


Connectors and Fasteners

by JanitorBot



Series: Connectors and Fasteners [1]
Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: AU Craigslist and Tinder, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Sex Fail, Cockblocking Mavericks, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Enlightening Vagina, Euphemisms, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Masturbation, Masturbation Fail, Mentions of Sigma, Mutual Masturbation, One Night Stand Fail, Possessive Behavior, Scientifically Justified Dom Undertones, Technobabble BS, Unintentional flirting, so much fail all the fail, wtf are these tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-03 01:01:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14557446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanitorBot/pseuds/JanitorBot
Summary: X stares at the reploid before him – the first outside visitor in a long time - for nearly forty seconds. A quick self-diagnostic reports that X’s hearing is fine, which means he really did just hear that.In neutral tones, he repeats,” You want to have sex.”In which X tries very, very hard to gift the reploid race an opportunity to experience the more physical side of human love and suffers inconveniences along the way.Edit: Now has fanart embedded!





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I read any robot smut I always feel a bit disorientated because sex is such a human thing. It feels a bit out of place from the universe for robots to have sex the way humans do. So in order to resolve my cognitive dissonance, I wrote crack. Then the crack grew into pretentious technobabble bs because I genuinely started wondering how to figure out how robots would enjoy sexy times. Idk what I'm doing anymore. I ain't a scientist.

It’s a fairly unknown fact, but Seventeenth Unit Leader X does hold regular office hours. If the Maverick Hunters isn’t going through a war or receiving enough Maverick reports to pull him out of reserve, X allots a specific block of time during which anyone can come and talk to him. Usually he spends it on fulfilling paperwork since he rarely receives visitors outside of an occasionally, extremely bored Zero and Dr. Cain. X’s reputation is growing so large that he’s becoming intimidating.

But today is different.

X stares at the reploid before him – the first outside visitor in a long time - for nearly forty seconds. A quick self-diagnostic reports that X’s hearing is fine, which means he really did just hear that.

In neutral tones, he repeats,” You want to have sex.”

“I want to have sex,” says Nova like they’re ordering e-tanks at a counter.

X already noted from the moment they walked into his office that despite the vivid teal paintjob, Nova has the standard, commonly produced civilian design, allowing them to easily make modifications and adjustments in the future for whatever they want to become.

And apparently this is the modification they’re curious about.

X already understood that some humans being, well, humans that this topic would inevitably come up. He just never expected that instead of a human it would be a reploid making the first step, less alone that he be involved with it.

“I’ve looked up online and asked any reploid I know if they can do it,” Nova continues. “Nobody has the function. So I want to know if _you_ have it and it was edited out when us reploids were produced, or…?”

X shakes his head. “I don’t have any of those parts.” At Nova’s crestfallen face, he asks,” May I ask what made you curious?”

The young reploid’s face twists in frustration. “I’m dating a human.”

X’s eyes widen.

“I’ve never dated a human before and I _really_ like her. I want to make her happy. So I looked up online on how to make my lover happy and…”

“And sex was there.”

“It was in the first results! It was everywhere! There was so much stuff about this sex stuff – but I can’t rusting do any of it!”

It takes a second for X to realize that he’s staring and quickly glances to the side to regain composure. The blue android assumed that with the unfortunate reputation reploids are developing because of Maverickism that it would take years for humans and reploids to reach a point of familiarity to start having romantic relationships with each other. And here is Nova, an example that peaceful human and reploid coexistence is more than possible.

Unaware of how they almost made X cry out of happiness, Nova keeps going. “My girlfriend found me researching and she told me it’s okay if we don’t have sex. She said that there are even humans who don’t have any interest in it. I think she said that just to make me feel better.”

“She’s not lying,” X defends hurriedly. “There are humans who choose to abstain from sex by preference, usually because they’ve taken up a vow or they simply don’t have the desire.”

“Sarah’s not one of them,” the reploid mutters as they bend forward in their chair. “Humans already made so many devices and I’ve been using some with her. I know I don’t need the parts to make Sarah feel good...”

“But you’re not satisfied.”

Nova nods. “I’m not. Sarah thinks she’s being selfish because she can’t do anything for me in that department. I personally don’t mind, but I guess it would be nice if I at least had the option. That way I can understand her better and...and she wouldn’t feel so bad about it being one-sided.”

Resigned, the reploid falls quiet, and X has heard enough.

He reaches forward to lay a hand on Nova’s shoulder, moved.

“Don’t worry Nova. Just because I don’t have them, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. For you and any other reploid who may also share your wish to experience this part of human culture, I’ll make it happen. I’ll even design the modification myself.” 

Nova perks up but quickly deflates, head tilting inquisitively. “Aren’t you a Maverick Hunter though?”

“I am indeed a Hunter,” X nods. “I was also an expert roboticist for Cain Labs and I still have access to their equipment. Because Hunter work takes priority I may not be so quick.” He then smiles. “However, I’m sure designing a feature to allow reploid to experience intercourse is _way_ easier than designing the very first reploid templates.”

* * *

Apparently designing pseudo-genitalia is way harder than X expected.

No matter how human X is, he is fundamentally a robot. When creating the reploid race, he and Dr. Cain used the surviving basic android blueprints under the ruins of Dr. Light’s lab and X’s body as references.

But sex? There’s only one reference point for that and it’s purely organic.

X has enough social awareness that despite how much import humans lay on sex, the subject itself has taboo connotations.

Case in point: X is using his spare time to conduct his research using Cain Labs as a working space. On the first day a scientist walked in, saw the legendary Maverick Hunter X handling a dildo, and promptly made a 180 degree turn.

Unfortunately X is not completely unaffected. He’s too sympathetic to ignore the red, spluttering scientists. It’s to the point that X has to continuously remind himself that this is for the greater good just so his suffering circuit would stop being affected by undeserved shame.

Even Dr. Cain is drawing a line.

“X, do you know that even before I found you, the sex industry was where the most cutting-edge robot and artificial intelligence technology was being done?” Dr. Cain asks, maintaining eye contact with X and determinedly not looking at the android’s project on the workspace table between them. “Do you know how many companies tried to negotiate a template from me so they can make sex purpose reploids? Not advanced robots, X. _Reploids_.”

X makes a face.

“Exactly. I don’t know if the simulations you’ve undergone ever covered the topic of sex but…” Dr. Cain trails off.

Then he covers his face with his hands and says in a pained voice, “I was about to give Dr. Light’s final child the sex talk.”

“Dr. Cain.”

“And I just said Dr. Light’s name and sex in the same sentence.”

“Dr. Cain, please.”

“This is it. This is how I’m going to hell. This is how we’re all going to hell. Corrupting the one good thing from the previous century because we can’t keep our shit together in our pants.”

“I already know what sex is,” X speaks over Dr. Cain’s despair with exasperation. “And the simulations have covered not only the subject itself, but also sex ethics.”

“Then surely you know how sex can be utilized as a weapon by terrible people. Consider the consequences if you make this X.”

X glances down at a small pair of flaps lying innocently on the table in front of him. “I don’t plan on making pseudo-genitalia be part of any base template. It’ll be a voluntary mod for any reploid who would like the option. There are plenty of robots out there who finds anything too organic intimidating.” Like food consumption, chemical influenced emotion variability, and waste shedding. “Not to mention sex is so complicated by itself. I’m not going to subject any newly-built such an elaborate equipment -”

Dr. Cain snorts sarcastically.

X sends the scientist a withering look. “- And throw them into society without any prior experience and maturity. That’s irresponsible.”

The old man shrugs. “I trust you X. I’m sure once you’re successful you’ll create the conditions to go with the mod.” The human’s old tired eyes quickly sharpen. “But you really have to get out of my lab. I love you like a son, but...“

He makes a large sweeping gesture over X’s work. “I don’t want my employees to injure themselves because of surprise boners. I didn’t cover that in their insurance.” Now that he’s visually acknowledging X's project, Dr. Cain narrows his eyes, examining. “Huh, you’ve certainly got the look down. No wonder they’re so distracting.”

Distracting is an understatement. An intern nearly sliced his own hand off with a portable laser cutter because he was watching X connecting sensory circuitry to a newly molded clitoris. The intern’s excuse for acting like a high schooler was, “it was _twitching_.”  

X accedes. “I’ll borrow some equipment and work from Hunter Base instead.”

 

* * *

 

Zero dodges two shots and rushes below X’s arm. Seeing what seems to be a low tackle, X kicks in the EAS to dash backward, ready to take advantage of Zero’s overextended reach, but the red robot is already ahead of him. Instead of a body slam that X was expecting, Zero stops himself at the very last second and takes ahold of X’s unguarded midriff, lifting X up swiftly before slamming him down to a conclusive thud on the ground.

X groans, partly from the pain and partly because he’s being straddled under Zero. X watched too many videos last night and the more cliché clips springs into his mind. Thanks to that mental process, X can see how the association effect is already taking strongly ahold, though this is one he does not want to have.  

Zero tilts his head to the side, his long blond hair spilling out slightly forward to graze the sides of X’s helmet. Huh, Zero’s hair. Zero’s hair is made out of sophisticated proximity sensors aren’t they?  Maybe X can use a subtler version when he’s trying to develop the more complicated foreplay phase further down in development.

“- X!”

X startles up to Zero’s raised volume. “What?”

The Zeroth Unit leader is flat out scowling now. “You’re distracted.”

“I’m sorry,” X responds sincerely. “Were you saying something?”

“I said,” Zero says, some annoyance tinting his voice, “your moves were too predictable and you didn’t commit to your feints fully. You were reacting instead of planning. You didn’t even use any other weapons besides your buster!”

Zero stands up and reaches his hand out. X takes it and gets tugged to his feet, stumbling a bit at the unexpected force.

“But you probably already know that. You just don’t care,” Zero states, face carefully neutral with the slightest narrowing of his eyes. “If you’re not going to take this seriously, this isn’t even training. It’s a waste of time. I can get a better workout if I hit the simulators if you’re going to be like this.”

 _Oh no,_ X thinks feeling bad. _I rubbed acid on him._

There’s very little that can truly challenge the red warbot outside of X, and X has been busy as of late. Zero genuinely looks forward to sparring with X – and X is ruining the fun by not giving it his all. 

The warbot crosses his arms. “There’s something in your mind.”

X pinches his nose bridge, a gesture he took after Dr. Cain and became very fond of. “You’re right, I am distracted and I really am sorry for that. I’m working on a mod project and it’s giving me so much trouble that it constantly creeps up to my forethoughts.”

Zero frowns and asks almost tentatively,” Is it something I can help you with?”

Translation: I’m asking because that’s what friends are supposed to do, but if it’s not within my fighting expertise don’t drag me into it. 

X thinks of how he casually strolled into the elevator with a cart of the equipment he’s borrowing from Cain Labs and a Hunter within the same space looked at one of X’s prototypes and commented,” That’s the most bizarre looking bullet I’ve ever seen, sir.”

The average reploid is largely unfamiliar with human biology asides from “very squishy, never use full strength.” There’s no way a specialized combat android like Zero would be able to assist.

X shakes his head. “I’ll be fine.” Then he resumes to a proper battle stance. “And I’ll pay attention this time.”

“You better. If I notice you’re not focusing on me, you only have yourself to blame if I pound you to the wall,” Zero warns.

X pauses. Last night, hoping to seek some form of inspiration or enlightenment, he watched a series of porn videos – and Nova was right, there is _a lot_ , almost too much in his opinion – and one particular scene flashes through his mind. A man, pinning a voluminous woman against a wall, who’s screaming, _“Yes, yes, pound me harder, there there!”_

It didn’t do anything for him except proving to X at this moment that he’s been thinking about this way too much and he has to _stop_.

“Just shoot me in the head,” he mutters. He doesn’t know whether he should be pleased or despair that he can now relate to having “dirty thoughts” like humans can. It’s not even productive.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” X exclaims, cursing at himself. He quickly turns away from Zero and marches resolutely to the other side of the training room. The blue android refuses to develop an association between human bodily pleasure and his best friend. That’s just – that’s just _wrong_.

“Last time energy weapons were dialed down to the lowest charge right? Let’s raise them up.”

 _Just get me to stop thinking about this while I’m with you,_ X thinks a little desperately as he watches Zero brighten up. If X ends up with a chopped limb from an excited combat android for thinking horrible thoughts, then it’s his own rusted fault.

X sees the slightest glimpse of a smile before shooting a charged shot at a red afterimage.

* * *

Private quarters are a small luxury reserved for unit leaders. At first X refused the offer when he was made leader of the Seventeenth, but Zero convinced him that “if a crash-prone idiot like Vile targets you specifically while you’re in base, at least your squad won’t be collateral damage. Take the room and spare your company from dealing with their supervisor for 24/7.”  
So X took the room and now he’s very glad that he did. Any interruptions would make soldering the wires harder from this awkward position.

He’s sitting on his desk chair with his pelvic armor off, making the necessary connections between himself and a completed male pseudo-genitalia prototype: a one-inch metal coil attached to a heat-activated implant at the attaching end under a like-skin substance with a sensor net. X is holding a remote control and a wattage controller for now, but if the sensory tests go successful then he can make the appropriate adjustments that they won’t be necessary.  

After a final click, X tilts his head curiously. X can feel it properly interfaced with his body but…no matter, that’s what the testing phase is for. He touches it and the sensation feels faint. He dials up the strength and touches it again. X jolts violently. Too much.

He once read how sex can be “electric,” but he’s confident it’s not meant to be taken literally. He tones it down to a more reasonable level. He feels a very weak, phantom satisfaction of remembering being in a luxurious oil bath. Pleasant, warm, and relaxing, all focused in only one area.

Frustration is building and it’s not the kind that X wants.

The problem is that he has never experienced sex and his body was never routed for it. He has nothing within his sensory database to bring up appropriate comparatives for it. So how does he know if what he’s feeling is what he’s _supposed_ to be feeling?

Does he have to open himself up and ask Dr. Cain to help add a whole new node to him? Oh no, that is such a horrible idea he can’t believe he actually thought that.

Sex has a psychological component to it. Humans release chemicals that influence their moods during the act so the equivalent for robots would be association then.

_“If I notice you’re not focusing on me…”_

Suddenly embarrassed, X shoves the thought down so hard he imagines stuffing it into an incinerator and turning his back to the flames. Focus.

What if he has to go even further and have it connected to an emotion circuit? But completely routing it to positive emotions sounds like a bad idea. He’s absolutely sure that simply touching genitalia does not automatically switch on an emotion like happiness or excitement, just possibly associated with it. X has read enough that sex can induce horribly negative emotions. Can he link it to the combination of being embraced, consuming an e-tank when low, and experiencing an overdrive? No, too physical, and it’s too individual to be generalized, but the notion of satisfying a need can be useful.

Wait. Too physical? Can something really be _too_ physical?

 _Muscles_ , X blinks. _Every muscle in the human body is connected to each other. I’ve spent so long thinking of it as an addition like a new prosthetic or an intelligent armor upgrade instead of something that’s natural._

A wave of shame falls over Dr. Light’s youngest. Unintentionally X has been viewing sex as something so separate from himself, and by extension, seeing humans as a whole so separate from androids. How can he truly believe in a world where humans and reploids can coexist peacefully together hand-in-hand if he himself sees humans as a totally different creature? Is he not an android?

X tugs off the prototype, wincing at the strong static from the sudden separation. There is one method that he hasn’t tried yet.

He stands up and begins systematically taking off any part of him that’s made out of Titanium-X alloy. The last time he was this bare was when he and Dr. Cain wanted to find out exactly what metals Dr. Light used for X’s sensory capabilities since that was smudged on the blueprints. They discovered that X’s body, head to toe, had a polymer layer infused with ultrathin gold and silicon network sensors with a sensitivity that can match a human’s.

Dr. Cain stared at X straight in the eye and deadpanned,” Your dad was richer than the government. We need to figure out a substitute.” Which they did, allowing them to make more reploids than they first expected.

X can also figure out a substitute for artificial genitalia too, but first he needs to try this himself.

First a penis. It seems less complicated than the vagina.

X’s Variable Tool System, more popularly known as the Weapon Copy System, isn’t limited to his outer armor as most people assumed. If that was the case, his hands wouldn’t be able to reconfigure every time he transforms his arms into busters. X’s unique ability extends to some parts of his actual body.

Within seconds there’s a new addition on his pelvic region that wasn’t there before. It sticks out from the smooth plane of his form so obviously that X can’t help but bite his lip, slightly embarrassed at how awkward it looks.

The physical form of the muscle is the easy part. X has studied enough of the shape and size to make it seamless, but he’ll need to communicate to his own body and manually make changes to adjust the internal workings.  

X convinces his own body to accept the new muscle, that it’s _his_. He says “yes” quickly to a thousand re-confirming messages and delays to anything that asks to save settings as fluid lines connect, nanites bravely exploring a new area, and power distributors realigning. He can feel his pseudo-muscles thinning, spreading, and pulling.  

This time when he touches downward he shivers.

This…is different. It doesn’t particularly feel good, but not bad either. He just feels…more.

Suddenly nervous, X sim-swallows. The head is supposed to be the most sensitive right? He has to – he has to redistribute tactile sensors here and there, heighten it at the tip, redirecting more power to the sensory subsystem, focus a line to the pleasure center…

Experimentally X gently touches himself to see if it’s not overwhelmingly sensitive. Slowly he starts stroking himself, his hands sliding up and down his shaft. His shoulders twitch and his mouth forms into an ‘o,’ green eyes widening.

The closest he can describe it is something floating within the common area of tingly and vibrating. He suddenly wants to open his legs further and close it tighter. His toes curl, his core is thrumming and his power distributors reignite like he’s fighting. The sensation peaks with every motion and rides along the rest of his body and did X make a mistake and shifted his other systems? He must have because why else are his legs trembling, why can’t he keep himself stable anymore, it feels like his gyros has been knocked, and, oh no, eternal pleasure feedback loop, each wave is growing higher and higher and he’s flat out gasping for cooler air -     

Then his comm channel splutters into life. _“X, hostage situation at Sector South-18! Eighth Unit has cornered the maverick to a construction site, but the maverick demands to see you personally. He says if you don’t come he’ll blow up the entire block!”_

X twitches.

 

* * *

 

Sam Awa, newest hire for Burbrick Constructions, is tied up, bleeding on the forehead, and feels the slightest of dizziness. He’s definitely faring better than Michael who’s whimpering over his broken leg, but Sam isn’t sure he can trust his own senses yet.

Because after the crazy reploid makes his monologue about delivering X’s head as a present to the glorious Sigma (reploids form cults too apparently, Sam learns something new everyday), Sam thinks he hears Abel City’s famous Blue Bomber shout,” You cockblocked science and social evolution for this!?” over the sound of a buster blast.

Maybe Sam has a concussion too.

 

* * *

 

It dawns to X afterwards that he hasn't quite figured out how he would be able to achieve climax so even if he wasn't interrupted it may or may not happen.

He's still irked. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a oneshot that would somehow end with Zero "helping" X, but X was too "this is MY project to solve!" to involve anyone else and tugged that development away from me viciously.  
> Bitch, you're not getting off that easily, /I will make a way/.  
> Alternative titles for this fic were "Hooking Up" and "Screwing," but I went full nerd.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How dare you people give me kudos and comments. Not only have you encouraged me to continue this monstrosity and release this chapter earlier, but now the outline has gotten longer. This one mainly focuses on setting up for what will come later.

Despite the sheer amount of extravagant attention people pour to it, climax itself is surprisingly…just okay X finds.

He was worried for a bit there, when the power surges were building up so much that his body began releasing multiple warning signals of approaching overload. And when X kept going, it automatically resolved itself, the release overpowering his other mental faculties long enough for him to enjoy this mind-numbing blankness that trails off to this pleasantly warm aftermath. It feels like relief.

It makes sense. A constant pleasure feedback loop with steadily growing waves of energy can only return back to baseline in two ways: either stop the cause of the phenomenon and let the waves simmer back down slowly (which X discovered is definitely unsatisfying), or disperse.

 _It’s not underwhelming_ , X thinks as he deflates against the wall, simply enjoying the experience. _It just seems to be a little…overhyped. Yes, that’s the word._

He’ll have to do this a couple times to make sure the results stay consistent (though he can predict that his Infinity Potential System will get him used to it very soon) as per following the scientific method, but right now he can feel a forced recharge incoming.

His processor has so much new information to parse through.

X saves the settings for his new pseudo-penis, winces at the sensitivity when his body transforms back to its generic, default state, and starts picking up his scattered unequipped armor parts lying on the floor.

Suddenly feeling the full weight of his exhaustion, X barely stops himself from falling gracelessly into his tube.

 

* * *

 

 _Smelt me_ , X curses silently as he kicks in his Emergency Accelerators and make a mad dash down the hallways. X is only fortunate that the way from the Unit Leaders’ quarters to the Command Center is nearly empty that he can go full speed without risking harm to anyone.

He woke up late.

But the Elite Squad Leader has never been late for a hearing once and he refuses to break that streak now.

X barely arrives to the Command Center on time.

There’s already a murmuring circular crowd of the other Unit Leaders, some of their second-in-charges, and secretarial assistants surrounding Alia in the middle. X approaches silently from the back just as the senior Navigator is taking attendance, her eyes momentarily meeting X’s before flitting off to the others. X quietly lets out a long breath, trying to quiet his worked up vents.

_“You were almost late.”_

Zero.

Quickly scanning among the reploids, X spots the Zeroth Unit Leader standing at the opposite side from him, the warbot’s sharp blue eyes assessing.

Nodding slightly in acknowledgment, X flips frequencies to their private channel. _“Good morning Zero,”_ he greets warmly

 _“I was about to comm you,”_ Zero continues. _“You’re usually earlier than this.”_

“ _I didn’t wake up when my capsule opened.”_

_“It didn’t alert you? You should get it checked.”_

_“It’s not broken.”_ X did check and there’s nothing wrong with his recharge tube; the casing had already lifted up at precisely 0600 hours just as programmed. It has always been this way since X joined the Maverick Hunters.

 _“I just slept through the alarm. Remember that mod project I told you about before? I was working on it last night and my usual recharge wasn’t enough.”_ X admits sheepishly. The blue android doesn’t need to sleep as much as the average reploid requires, but yesterday he learned so much new information that even right now he’s still making sense of it in the back of his head.

_“Adopting an irregular recharge schedule will be a detriment to your efficiency and make you more prone to mistakes.”_

_“I may be a little sleepy, but it shouldn’t interfere with my Hunter duties.”_

_“Just don’t push yourself too hard.”_

_“I can’t make any promises. You know me,”_ X says, the corners of his mouth twitching. _“Sometimes I get so focused I lose track of time.”_

Zero gives him a look. _“X, you better not pose a danger to yourself because you’re tired,”_ he says, his tone stern belying exasperation. “ _Am I going to have to start entering your room at night and push you into your own tube?”_

Rolling his eyes fondly, X teases. _“If you’re going to go that far you might as well sleep with me.”_

The Azure Hunter freezes.

He did not mean to say that. He did not – why did he verbalize that? He suddenly feels uncomfortable and his carapace – it’s thrumming all of a sudden and oh no, he’s _ashamed_ isn’t he? He’s been so entrenched in his project, researching and getting sidetracked by online erotica that initially appeared as helpful articles, and now he’s adopting human euphemisms and slipping them to Zero of all people!

Like all robots (except himself, X bemoans, not anymore after this) Zero is _innocent_ for fritz’s sake. There’s no way he knows what sleeping together means and it doesn’t matter that the warbot doesn’t understand because X _does_ and smelt him, why is he still on this train of thought –

_“X, you want to recharge together?”_

X glances up to see bright blue eyes staring back at him.

 _“It was a joke_ ,” he answers a tad too hastily. “ _Sorry, I know humor is a complicated thing. Anyway, Alia’s done with the count. Switching off comm now_.” X is aware that he’s totally escaping but he doesn’t care.

 _There’s no reason to feel like this_ , the blue android thinks as Alia pulls up a line of headshots on the watch floor. _Sexual shame is ultimately unreasonable to robots. Humans have placed it on themselves because of history, religion, and societal views. Reploids don’t need to adopt that precedent. So why am I…?_

X shakes his head. He can introspect all he likes later. Right now he’s on duty and so the Seventeenth Unit Leader forces himself to pay attention to the operator’s words.  

“ – makes the seventh hostage situation in the past two months. There’s no commonality among the attacked buildings except that they were staffed by reploids and populated with humans. Only two out of the seven mavericks were from the same model line and they held no relation to each other…”

 

* * *

 

There’s no one currently occupying the hybrid operating room in Hunter Base Medical. A sophisticated space primarily used for critical injuries, major overhaul repairs, and internal parts replacements, the emptiness implies that the Hunters overall haven’t come across a situation involving heavy casualties since the last war.

X hopes that a Hunter will never need this room for its intended purpose anytime soon.

For now it’s convenient for his project since the blue android can take fully advantage of the various devices here without being in anyone’s way.

X turns on the lights and activates the automated surgical arms, the low thrum of the awakening machines chasing away the loneliness that tends to take home in hospital rooms at night. After providing the appropriate materials and uploading his file into the computers, X watches the mechanical arms emerge from their hiding place in the ceiling.

That should do it. If the bionic penis comes out successful, not only will it be install-ready but also depending on how intricate the reploid’s make is, it may not even require surgery for the necessary connections to form. While the beta version of the pseudo-penis is being worked on, which X estimates should take less than an hour, he can get started on figuring out the pseudo-vagina.

If X is going to make pseudo-genitalia he wants to release a complete set together at the same time.

He summons up a hologram of the human female anatomy before him. The longer he examines the image, twirling and expanding it, the deeper his concern grows.

 _This…this is going to be a challenge_ , X concludes.

The penis is easy. With the proper installation it’ll just sit out when needed, pack in when not, and the weight won’t be an issue.

The vagina is another world. The majority of its anatomy resides internally; the vagina canal is an average of seven to sixteen centimeters long and it can expand further to accommodate anything that goes in there – or out of there, as is the case of childbirth.

And X is having trouble figuring out where to put it. The human biology is surprisingly pliable to the point that with the right amount of specific chemicals it can transform itself, even shifting its own skeleton. Reploids’ bodies, however, are more unforgiving.

X fears it may even be impossible for some reploids to acquire a pseudo-vagina depending on their models. If there’s no room for the mod then it’ll not just require surgery, it can involve major overhauls. Acquiring this mod can become extremely extensive and expensive.

X closes his eyes, forcing himself to calm down.

He’s getting ahead of himself. There’s no point worrying over the potential costs when he hasn’t even made the muscle yet. First he needs to make sure that he can actually make the artificial organ successfully before worrying how it can be applied to reploids.

 _One step at a time_ , X reminds himself as pulls up a hologram of his own construction.

He squints at it.  

So there are the hip servos, pneumatic pistons, actuators, crankshaft, variable pressure pump – all of those and more tucked underneath a layer of pseudo muscles and shock absorbers. There’s very little wiggle room for anything more especially with the complex wiring, power distributors, and cables filling up the negative spaces in between his critical components.

There’s nothing he can do with his skeleton. But he can shift his lower muscles and pull the shock absorbers away with them, then use the Variable Tool System inwards from the bottom of his mass. Forcing the muscles to pull from that end will creating a small sack of sensitivity nodes and pressure at the end and clump the surrounding cabling around the canal but that may work in his favor. If he concentrates on the realignment hard enough, it may even mimic the female body’s nervous system in terms of sensitivity…    

X gasps and drops down, one hand clutching the edge of a desk, the other on his abdomen reflexively.

Oh _. Oh._ Never before he felt so aware of his inner construction like this now that he’s shifting it around. Aside from his systems leaning more towards his backside, X is glad that at least it’s not too uncomfortable. Different yet tolerable.

Now that the hardest part is over X can focus on the exterior now. He dismantles his lower armor and turns around to lay his back against one of the legs of the desk, spreading his thighs apart. At least crafting the vulva is much simpler; he read that the clitoris is similar to the penis head but tinier and more sensitive so he makes it just that with a pair of fleshy folds to accompany it.  

X peers down at it. From the outside it appears very tidy. X could even keep this function underneath his pelvic armor, which he should now that he’s considering it. No reploid has the Variable Tool System and therefore no one outside of X can simply create and take away parts of themselves at will. X is going to have to keep carrying this function for a couple of days to see if it presents any discomfort through day-to-day work before he constructs a prototype. 

Well, time to test it.

X pokes at the area and feels the artificial flesh push back at the pressure. Sensory lines and pseudo-muscles are all green. A carelessly hard press on the clitoris causes him to twitch. That’s working too.

Slowly he inserts a finger pass the entrance and presses against the tight inner walls experimentally.

…Is it supposed to feel irritating?

X looks down at himself, confused. With one hand he spreads himself further, encouraging his other hand to delve in deeper. Diagnostic states that everything is working as intended so why the rust does this feel bad? He must be doing something wrong.

What if he’s touching himself wrong? Maybe fingers aren’t doing it? It seems to have done plenty well for the people he’s watched in the videos online but X has learned by now that pornography tends to be greatly exaggerated and glorified.

X glances up at the mechanical arms still working away above him. The pseudo-penis is still under construction so that’s out of the question. Green eyes dart to the far wall where there’s an ample variety of machine and hand tools hanging conveniently behind a protective, translucent case.

In particular, X is looking at the screwdriver. The screwdriver looks at him back.

…No. X is not going to abuse the poor screwdriver.

Perhaps he’s not applying enough force and depth in there? X tries again, this time shoving up two fingers inside –

“Ach!” X cries, immediately pulling out his fingers, realization dawning immediately.

Stupid, stupid, stupid - he forgot the lubricant! What the rust was he thinking sticking anything up in there dry?! No wonder it felt so chafing! How did this completely slip his mind while he was making the other one? X is going to have to test the pseudo-penis all over again now that he remembered this.

Alright, so he’s going to have to incorporate a fluid punch implant with lubricant safe for both humans and reploids in both genitalia. But what can he use now? X does have a tucked away source of water for tear ducts but water makes horrible lube but he can isolate his materials so if he can make some glycerin…

“I-is anyone here?”

X facepalms.

_If there is such thing as cosmic energy and universal powers, it must be motivated to interrupt me at the worst possible moment as much as possible._

The Elite Unit Leader turns his head toward the voice’s direction and yup, there’s a Hunter at the door with his gun out, nervously glancing around the room.

Closing his legs tightly while grabbing his pelvic armor, X slowly stands up, mechanically equipping it back on.

The Hunter reels back at the sight of the unmistakable blue helmet. “X, sir! I’m so sorry I didn’t know it was you! I heard something so I came running…“

“It’s fine,” X smiles, pushing down his mortification. “You heard a sound and went to investigate. Though I do wonder what you’re doing here at -“ he checks his internal chronometer and hides his wince, “Two AM? Shouldn’t you be recharging?”

X can feel his inner Zero wanting to smack him.

The young Hunter is rubbing the back of his head. “I was going to recharge, but I couldn’t find my gun. Then I remembered I left it in medical so I came here and that’s when I heard you shout? What were you – I mean, are you alright sir?”

X waves the Hunter’s concern off. “I’m fine. Thank you for asking.”

 _And thank you for not asking why I was on the floor with my armor off too_ , X doesn’t say. A privilege of being a senior Hunter is that the younger ones don’t pry into his business lest they invite unwanted attention from a Unit Leader. Usually X detests his intimidating reputation but right now it’s working in his favor.

“Oh.” The Hunter is squirming in place, now at a loss. Then he looks at the operating table behind X.

“I didn’t know you can make weapons in medical, sir,” he quips just to say something. “Though that is the most bizarre looking bullet I’ve ever seen…”

* * *

Target in visual range: closest profile match is ‘Mole Borer’ in mechaniloid database. Environment assessment: the debris of the broken highway bridge pillars will effectively restrict its movements like a barrier, but the tracks can overcome the crushed cars. Counting seven escape routes Borer may utilize.    

_“Zero, there’s still people in the area! Keep the Borer’s attention while I have my company evacuate everyone.”_

_“My unit is approaching from the back clearing away the other mechs. That route should be clear for you X.”_

The Crimson Hunter dodges to the left just as the Borer charges at him, its roller shoving and crushing any unfortunate car that’s in its way. Zero ducks below the arm, changing his his grip on his Z-Saber and sticking it out horizontally as he dashes forward. The beam carves into the armored skirt, cleaning slicing through the thick circuitry as it passes by him.

The Borer manages to curve away before it takes further damage. It makes an instant U-turn, lifts its roller and shoots it towards Zero’s direction. Zero leaps, thrusters blasting multiple times to give him the added height, and somersaults over the mech as it speeds below him, aiming his sword perpendicularly downwards.

He stabs straight into the Borer’s back. Before he can push it in any deeper, the Borer stands upright and Zero jumps off lest he loses his footing.

Without the roller’s weight, the Borer’s speed has greatly increased but Zero spots a heavy fluid leak gushing from the side. Zero estimates that even if he does nothing it’ll take less than three minutes for it to go down.

Before the warbot can finish it off, the huge mech rolls away from him, climbing over a squashed car trying to escape from the relentless Hunter.

Converting his hand into a buster, Zero starts charging his weapon as he chases after it –

He doesn’t fire the blast. There’s X and two Hunters lifting a fallen pillar for a trapped human to crawl out. And the Borer is aiming towards them.

_“X, incoming!”_

The blue android doesn’t bother to look up. Zero watches X grab the two Hunters by him at their waists and side-leaps (X’s distance has improved, the warbot notes). Shouts of alarm follow the collapsing pillar and the angry Borer. The Hunters automatically resume protocol and escort the panicking human out of the scene while X engages the Borer.

_“Is the Zero Buster fully charged?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“I’ll get you a clear view of its back.”_ X keeps dodging backwards side-to-side until he’s climbing over debris to higher ground, the Borer hungrily clambering after him.

Zero fires on three.

The plasma shot melts through the center of the Borer’s yellow back right above where its fuel tank would be. The Borer stutters and falls backwards, the smell of scorched metal and processed fuel pervading the air.

The warbot closes his eyes. This mission was not worth both the Zeroth and the Seventeenth Unit. Command Center must have sent Zero to end the fight quickly and X to limit collateral to a minimum.

Zero understands. It still doesn’t make it any more engaging. In fact, the only thing interesting here is… 

“The rogue mech is down everyone,” X announces loudly mainly for the nearby civilians to hear. “Seventeenth Unit, continue search and rescue.”   

 _“Zero Company, secure and search the area. The Borer switched attention from me to the Seventeenth Unit midway into combat. There may be someone remotely controlling the Borer from afar,”_ Zero orders to his Unit. After he receives a round of ‘yes, sir!’ he switches over to Hunter Base frequency. “ _Zeroth to Base. Look into the transport for the rogue Mole Borer. There’s no energy mines beyond Sector South-25.”_

The unspoken message: The Borer and its transport shouldn’t have any business of being here.

Hopefully this leads to something bigger worth pursuing.

_“Base to Zeroth. Understood.”_

Unit Leader duties sufficiently completed, Zero turns off the comm. When he approaches closer to X, the blue android hops off from his uneven concrete platform and lands next to him.

“Massive property damage but no fatal injuries or deaths,” X says with a note of relief. “That was an impressive maneuver you pulled at the beginning. If I did something similar I’d risk getting crushed by the roller.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You think so?”

Zero's expression sharpened. “Your movements changed.”

Green eyes blink. “They have?”

The warbot mentally replays X’s movements from earlier and nods. “The way you were dodging earlier. You’re more horizontally inclined than before. Asides from using your EAS, your base speed has dropped incrementally but your footing has grown more solid. If you have the assisted speed from your thrusters, you can pull off the same move I did and recover stability quicker than before.”

Scrutinizing blue eyes dart down to X’s waist. His fingers twitch towards it almost reflexively but Zero keeps his arm down, maintaining a strict position. 

“Did you do something to your weight distribution?” Zero manages to ask. “Your center of gravity has been lowered.”

When Zero doesn’t receive a response he looks up to see X quietly gaping at him.

“You observed all of that?” X replies incredulously. “Now _that’s_ impressive. I didn’t know you were paying attention to me that much.”

Feeling caught, Zero looks away. “Of course I pay attention to you,” he says just a touch defensively. “You don’t put up your guard as much as you should. I have to be alert for the both of us.”

Despite the major disadvantage it puts him in, X has given himself to the world. Zero can formulate the perfect argument against the Blue Bomber’s unreasonable stance to help everyone in every way he can and it’ll be ultimately futile because it's  _X_. The least Zero can do is keep an eye out for him.   

X must have taken that as a playful jab because he smiles. He says, “Anyways, you’re right. I didn’t mean to change my weight distribution, but I did make a few changes to myself that must have influenced it.”

The warbot’s eyes flashes. He needs to know. “What kind of changes?” 

X falls quiet again.

Zero hasn’t figured out why but X has been doing that a lot lately: becoming silent and turning red in the face. It’s an unnecessary feature that X and most reploids have that the warbot doesn’t. By now Zero is sure that it’s an involuntary expression since there’s no value in conveying signs of vulnerability like this. In fact, it’s tactically unfavorable to be so revealing. 

If Zero points it out, X may make attempts to conceal such a reaction – and Zero should. But X is strong enough to show weakness without it majorly disadvantaging him, which means Zero doesn’t need to say anything.

The Crimson Hunter can allow themselves this indulgence.   

X’s hand suddenly rises to the side of his helmet. The blue android is listening to something in his comm.

“One of my Hunters is having trouble calming down a civilian. I’m going to help him,” X says a bit lamely and hurries off.

Zero notices that X has been running away a lot too. That one he doesn’t like.

* * *

After X adds the lubricant to both the pseudo-penis and vagina the experience has definitely improved especially for the latter. At first it's a little circuit-frying putting his fingers in there so close to his own internal construction but eventually he gets used to that too. A few adjustments and repeated self-experimentation later, X has become so used to the pseudo-genitalia that he no longer requires longer recharges. He's back to his average sleeping schedule in a couple days' time.

The pros and cons of X's Infinity Potential System: Pros include engaging in multiple processes of thought, being endlessly adaptable and therefore he'll always be at his ‘peak.’ Cons include that many things cease to stay as a novelty very shortly. Masturbation can officially join that list. 

Which is fine with X. Despite being moderately pleasurable he doesn’t necessarily feel the drive to seek sexual gratification.

 _Of course_ , he thinks. _Androids cannot reproduce less alone carry the instinct. There’s no reason to develop a software to mimic that._

Basically X is done with the developing and solo testing phase. He can now move on to field testing.

X isn’t fond of deception but he can see so many things that can go wrong if he openly proclaims to the world, “Hello, this is X – yes, the same Maverick Hunter X and Father of Reploids, that one – anyway, is there anyone, human and reploid, who would like to volunteer for a series of experiments involving sexual intercourse?”

X is not going to invite that disaster to him.  

Another option is to give what he has so far to Nova, let them and their girlfriend go at it and take notes. Except X can imagine how that can also potentially ruin the reploid’s relationship and X does not want to be the instigator of that either. Also, if anything goes wrong, Nova may be inflicted with a trauma and X _definitely_ does not want that.

Which means X is going to have to use himself as the primary subject for field testing.

The blue android stares at the computer screen before him, hands anxiously drumming on the keyboard without pressing anything. The homepage of Corklist, Abel City’s largest classified advertisements and discussion website, waits for X to make his move.

 _For reploid and human peaceful coexistence,_ X reminds himself as he begins his quest for casual sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think X is having a wonderful time so far, just wait till the next chapter comes up. I'm looking at the outline and it's still cracking me up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I googled X’s official height and found that he’s shorter than me. I’ve been cooing “oh my smol sweet son, I shall protect you from everything” to him.  
> Then I wrote this chapter.  
> Also thanks for the comments and kudos - they're really pushing me to get these chapters out (and longer too, sheesh). I did delete a couple scenes that I will show in the epilogue with accompanied notes so yay, y’all get bonus content because I’ve got rambling fingers.

Using the internet is hard even for X.

It’s not that it’s beyond his powers of navigation, not at all. In fact, he, and every reploid for that matter, are excellent data combers and the internet is simply too much for them. If X isn’t careful, he’ll get himself sucked into the overwhelming, chaotic pool of nigh limitless knowledge, continuously learning and learning until the sheer amount of information absorption forces him to enter an inconvenient sleep mode right at the spot. It’s for that reason that many reploids tend to avoid the internet unless it involves with their occupation or they have a specific target in mind such as a quick look-up. Only X and experienced data orientated reploids can handle diving into the internet without losing themselves to the online saturation.

That’s why after reviewing three pages in Corklist’s adult section full of various sexual propositions including kinks, fetishes, scams, and personal individual homepages – looking everything up even the accompanying psychological, political articles and recent news that tend to pop out with the search, cross-referencing and gradually growing engrossed - the android takes a step back, wisely pulls himself out and decides to make his own post instead.

X creates two different accounts and makes a separate post for each one. Aside from some wording changes to not sound like the same person, the posts largely follow as,” I’m a male/female virgin seeking to experience sexual intercourse for the first time. Is there anyone who would like to be my partner? I prefer someone who is experienced and gentle.”

The account operating as the male virgin receives template formatted replies with redirect links to massage parlors and beauty salons, advising him to call for a specific person if he ever arrives. X judges it’s best not to touch that.

The female virgin account, however, receives more notice. Three people ask for X’s photo, one accuses him of being a troll, another a bot (hah), and one attached a grainy image of what appears to be, according to X’s recent statistical research, a slightly shorter than average penis with the comment, “I’ll let you ride this long meat if you can ;).”

Achieving attention posing as an individual seeking to receive vaginal penetration is very easy online apparently. Out of accessibility, X decides that he’ll test that first then.

But people want photos?

X deliberates after he looks up what a ‘troll’ is. _It’s hard to trust a faceless stranger’s word online. They need proof that I’m a person._

X is not a materialistic person but he does keep a few possessions. He leaves his chair to open the small chest he has in his humble, nearly empty storage closet. He rummages through it until he pulls out a worn hoodie, a gift from Dr. Cain when X was still the man’s lab assistant.

He hasn’t put it on since before he became a Maverick Hunter.

After he de-equips his helmet, upper armor and buster stabilizers, X snuggles into the hoodie, patting off the light layer of dust. He smooths down his helmet hair and pulls up the camera function on his computer.

A photo later, X clicks the button to attach his picture to his post. Hopefully there will be someone who can take up his request by the time he checks in tomorrow morning.

X retires to his capsule.

* * *

The next day X finds a warning message in his inbox from Corklist that his post has been reported for “underage sex proposition” and was thus promptly deleted.

The century old android gawks, offended.

_You must be rusting joking with me._

* * *

There has to be another way.

With a determined exvent, X dials the personal number of Dr. Cain.

“Hello X!” the doctor greets enthusiastically over the background noise of whirring and metal screeching. “Give me a moment to find a quieter spot to talk.” The screen shakes as the doctor transfers to what X recognizes is the man’s office, the screen finally stabilizing as it properly sits up on a flat surface. The doctor grunts into his office chair then continues.

“It’s good to see you! How have you been?”

X’s eyes turn up at the corners. “Hello Dr. Cain, I’ve been good myself. Am I interrupting anything?”

“Nothing that requires me to actively pay attention. It seems you’ve got a reason to call me so let it out then. What’s on your mind?”   

“Dr. Cain,” X begins. “Where can I find instant sexual intercourse?”

The roboticist’s eyes dart around himself as if to be afraid of someone overhearing. He finally replies, “You’re still working on that mod project? I’m surprised you haven’t finished it already.”

“I will after I conduct a few tests involving a partner. Do you know where I can find one?”

“The internet,” the human deadpans.

“But can you recommend me anything from there?”

“Oh lord.” Dr. Cain leans back in his chair, fingers rubbing into his face. His wrinkles seem to sag further as the conversation continues. “X, remember when we used to have normal conversations like where the nice parks in Abel City are, or figuring out how to reduce the size of reploid aural cones? What happened to that?”

“The pursuit for greater interracial understanding and bonding,” X responds without a beat. “Can you blame me for wanting to be thorough with this?”

Dr. Cain sighs. Drily, he says,” Look, if you want to seek out sex under your conditions that badly, go find a sex worker.”

X opens his mouth as if to protest but then he pauses. Then he looks aside, his youthful face considering.

Dr. Cain panics. “X, that was sarcasm, don’t you _dare_ \- !”

“It wouldn’t work,” the android murmurs as he slips out of search. “Abel City illegalized prostitution more than fifteen years ago. I can neither find one or moonlight as a sex worker without breaking the law. Also, the subject itself is such a huge gray area that I can’t personally determine if the law can be considered unjust to obligate disobeying it. Therefore, I’ll simply not take that route.”

“X, you’re going down the rabbit’s hole and I am becoming increasingly concerned.”

X deflates, exasperated. “Dr. Cain, I appreciate that you’re trying to look out for me but I can take care of myself.”

“I understand that, but you’re not human, X. There’s a distinct gap in mentalities between a sexual creature like humans and a non-sexual creature like robots. I’m afraid about the potential trauma you may experience.”

“It’s because of potential trauma that _I’m_ doing this instead of a reploid,” X counters, unmoved.

“Can you really blame me for wanting you to think we’re a decent species? So far my kind has been doing a magnificent job tricking you into believing we’re worth your compassion. I’d prefer to keep the charade going.”

Green eyes roll fondly. “You give yourself and humanity too little credit.”

The roboticist snorts a tad cynically. “You give us too much.”

“Anyways, I’m not going to give up yet. I’m sure there’s a method outside of making a proposition through Corkslist – “

Dr. Cain bursts out in surprised laughter. “You went on Corklist of all places!? What were you thinking?”

Shrugging, X gives a rueful grin. “I didn’t know where to start. Corkslist was the first website I could think of that was too big for the government to actively police. I was hoping that I can get what I need without lying too much about who I am. Pretending to be someone I’m not is already stressful.”

“People lie all the time. You might as well finally join the party.” Dr. Cain shakes his head. “Apparently I can’t stop you from making bad decisions but I can at least do damage control. You want to find sex? Try Plugger. It’s a well-known dating site where you’re required to put your face and personal information out. People are less likely to waste your time there. Say you’re looking for a casual relationship and you should be able to find something.” 

X tilts his head curiously. “Did you use it before?”

“No, but I did teach at a university and you hear things, X,” the doctor says with the air of someone who’s absolutely done with the world. “Two hobbies the students from both the robotics and archaeology departments share are drunk raging at Dr. Light’s ghost and being sexually active twats. Good luck, my friend.”

* * *

X takes Dr. Cain’s suggestion and hops onto Plugger.

He reviews a couple profiles and creates his own following a similar format.  He's “'Max'. Female, 18, located @ Sector West-3 and currently studying at ACIT. Looking for a short and sweet, casual relationship.”

Less than ten minutes after he completes his temporary, alternate identity profile, X is having his first conversation with twenty- two year old Lane from Sector West-6.

 

 **Lane:** Hi ;)

 **Max:** Hello!

 **Lane:** you have beautiful eyes

 **Max:** Thank you! How is your day?

 **Lane:** It’s been good. If you don’t mind me asking may I ask how tall are you?

 **Max:** I don’t mind at all. I’m 160 cm.

 **Lane:** What’s that in ft?

 **Max:** 5’3 ft.

 **Lane:** Cool just checking. So I notice you’re looking for something short and sweet. I’m 8 in taller than you but I’ve got something pretty sweet in my pants. It’ll make a great dessert after I take you out for dinner and movies, what do you say? ;) ;) ;)

 

X’s face falls. Pity and guilt fills his core.

 

 **Max:** I’m sorry but I’m a busy person. To be honest, I’m looking for something very, very casual. I’m not looking for a real relationship and you seem very kind. You should find someone else.

 **Lane:** oh you just want to go straight into business

 **Lane:** If so I’m all for that too haha

 

X brightens up.

 

 **Max:** That’s excellent! Are you available sometime after 7pm tonight?

 **Lane:** yeah I’m off of work then. Can you host?

 

Perfect. X is in control of the conditions.

 

 **Max:** Sure! How does meeting up at the Violette House lobby sound? It’s a hotel in Sector West-3.

 **Lane:** yeah I can be there at 8 pm, does that work?

 **Max:** Great! See you tonight, I’ll be waiting at the lobby!

 **Lane:** Can’t wait ;)

 

Everything is falling into place. After six pm, X should be done with his duties as the Seventeenth Unit Leader for the week before the cycle renews. Arriving to the hotel from Cain Labs will take approximately ten minutes by taxi if there’s no traffic - seven if X rushes and goes through the rooftops, but he doesn’t need to resort to that. That leaves at least an hour and a half for X to prime himself into appearing as close to a human as possible and cover his tracks from ‘Mega Man X’ to ‘Max’ in from Hunter Base to the Violette House using Cain Labs as the mediating location.

If this all goes as efficiently as possible, he will have the purest testing experience without any media backdraft and no one the wiser.

There’s only one variable to critically weigh.

Thankfully the Azure Hunter has contingency plans for that.

* * *

_“Zero, I need you to do me a favor. Can you help me?”_

Zero, who just turned around the corner to see an unexpectedly closed door, flips into radio.

_“Sure. Does this have to do anything with you not being in your office today?”_

_“Ah, you’ve seen it. Yes, I’m involved with a personal operation and if there is a maverick attack and Hunter Base forwards it to me, I need you to cover me.”_ Before Zero surges up in a protest, X continues. “ _I will immediately respond to any large scale attack, but if it’s something small that it doesn’t necessarily require my specific presence or involve lives, it will mean so much if you can handle it for me. That is, if you’re not already involved with a hunt if such an event arises.”_

Unlike Zero, X doesn’t want to always be the first responder to every hunt. The kinds of circumstances the world is in where the peace loving Blue Bomber has to be involved in every maverick incident implies something terrible.

X isn’t asking Zero to take the blue android’s duties. The combatdroid acknowledges that X is taking proper precautions, but Zero still feels like he’s been rubbed acid.

There’s just something about this that makes Zero want to reach for his Z-Saber and slice something in half. He doesn’t even know why he’s feeling like this and the illogicalness of it only makes it worse.

 _“I can do it,”_ Zero says as neutrally as possible, diligently stomping down his previous shot of anger into a simmering low heat. “ _What are you working on that’s so important that you need me to cover?”_

 _“My mod project,”_ X sighs.  

_“The same one? What the rust is it that you’re still working on it?”_

_“It’s…complicated. Explaining it will be difficult over radio,”_ X responds sounding frustrated. _“Heck it’s been difficult for me and I’m the one designing it. It’s an entirely new field. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the creation of this mod is going to add a whole new dimension to reploid anatomy.”_

Well smelt it. If it’s hard for even X to wrap his mind around it, then for any reploid it’s flat out impossible.

_“I need to go, Zero. Thank you so much for saying yes. You’re the best friend I can ever ask for.”_

X statics out from the channel, leaving the warbot to stand in front of X’s disappointingly empty office.

 _‘A whole new dimension to reploid anatomy?’ No wonder X has been obsessed lately,_ Zero thinks distantly as he retraces his previous steps now that his objective to see X has been thwarted.

Zero understands, he really does. X belongs to everyone. He belongs to the humans, the reploids, and his vision of an everlasting peace. Zero knows this already. 

But he’s _Zero’s_ friend.

_You’re acting pathetic._

Long blond hair whipping behind him, Zero makes a beeline back to Command Center. During the entire walk there’s no visible change in Zero’s expression, but the air around him has other Hunters nearly pressing themselves to the walls as he goes.

* * *

Sitting right at the blurred boundary between the fading, pre-twenty second century district and the rest of Abel City, the Violette House is a fairly new upscale hotel parading neoclassical Beaux-Arts architecture to make it appear much older than it actually is. The lobby is full of warm chandeliers, giant flower arrangements, and plush lounge chairs sitting comfily on classical rugs over a shiny marble tiled floor.    

X, dressed in the traditional look of an economical college student aka a hoodie, jeans, and a pair of sneakers, does not visually fit in with the setting.  
There’s no reason to be tense, X reassures himself. He has already paid and checked in his room so he belongs here like any other guest except he’s so used to being recognized.  
Especially by reploids. And X sees that this hotel is nearly completely staffed by reploids.

X is now extremely glad he washed his synthetic hair with fabric softener earlier. The reploid manning the counter didn’t look at X twice, all courteous smiles and service. Externally, X passes as a normal human being.

“Hey, are you Max?”

X turns around to see the owner of the voice, analytics jumping into work: 180 centimeters tall and 77 kilograms. Short wavy dirty blond hair, brown eyes, Pantone 58-5 C. Features check out what X has observed through the profile photo of one “Lane.” Not that he needed his recognition system at all with his memory functioning at high capacity, but apparently X is so alert that his processor is overly authenticating without his permission as if to compensate.

Activating his voice filter, X forces a friendly smile. He hopes it’s convincing. “I am. Nice to meet you Lane.”

“Nice to meet you too,” the man says. He makes a deliberate show of raking his dark eyes up and down on X.

 _Please don’t recognize me, please don’t recognize me, please don’t recognize me -_  

Lane smirks, approving. “You really got the cute, sporty look down.”

Relief floods X. This time his smile is genuine. “Thank you. Want to get to our room?”

The man blinks, taken aback. “Wait so we’re doing it in the hotel? Damn, you got us a room?” He loosely points up as if to gesture the Violette House. “In here?”

“Uh yes?” X answers unsure. “Is there a problem?”

“Hell no,” Lane enthuses, snaking an arm around X’s waist. “It’s just pretty awesome, little lady. Thought we were just meeting up here, not getting busy in a five-star.”

“Oh! Yeah, I had some coupons and I wanted to use them before they expire,” X awkwardly lies, chastising himself for forgetting that college students don’t typically have billions of zennies to their name.

He should set up a couple extra anonymous wires to some educational charities and trusts. His other donation wires aren’t depleting his bank account fast enough.

Lane follows X to an elevator, the human’s hand on X’s waist casually teasing the edge of the android’s jeans. 

As soon as they get off the fourth floor, Lane is already rubbing his hands up and down X’s sides, nosing along X’s nape as the android awkwardly shuffles down the hallway with a body sticking to his back as he goes.

X does not know how to react to what he would describe as ‘puppy’ behavior so he makes no movement to respond to it. Instead he locates his designated room and swipes his key on the card reader, walking in with Lane in tow

Things escalate very quickly from there.

X couldn’t locate the light switch before Lane takes ahold of the android’s shoulders, flipping X around and pressing his lips against X’s in the dark, the door politely closing behind them.

 _Oh_ , X realizes. He’s being kissed.

The pre-coital activity has begun.

At least X knows kissing. That’s easy. All he has to do is push back with his lips.

It encourages the man. Lane continues to kiss X, advancing the android to walk backwards. X tries to mirror the man’s growing fervor while his proximity sensors helpfully map out the room’s space for him. The Hunter subtly guides them to the bed until Lane is pushes X down onto the sheets, hungrily chasing after the robot’s lips on the way down.

Then X registers something wet.

Caught off-guard, X reflexively opens his mouth, inviting the man’s tongue to meet the android’s. X tries not to cringe. He knows lips are sensitive but are oral cavities supposed to be erogenous zones? If so, he must have overlooked it. He makes himself a note to research that later.

X turns his head away, releasing contact. He can’t allow Lane to figure out that his mouth is essentially composed of ceratanium.

“You’re so shy,” Lane whispers. “It’s okay babe, relax. I’m going to take real good care of you.”

X isn’t nervous but it’s very sweet of the man trying to be considerate of him. X was lucky that he got such a nice partner.

Still X prefers this doesn’t go all night. He’s patient and he’s willing to allot extra time to this if necessary, but it would be fantastic if he can get this done in an hour and get back to Hunter Base asap.

X unbuttons his jeans, shimmying them off along with his underwear while he quickly reviews his memories for any line to say that may expedite this. He finds one.

“I need to have you right now, Lane,” X whispers as he starts gently tugging down the other man’s pants, fingers brushing against the man’s erection. Oh good, that’s ready.  

The man moans into X’s artificial brown hair. “God damn, Max.”

Suddenly the human moves away from X’s face, fingers pushing up his hoodie. “No shirt?” He chuckles. His hands reach up to lightly squeeze on X’s soft, flat chest, thumbs rubbing over faux nipples that X made at the last second without any sensory lines in them. “Shit, you’re the smallest girl I’ve ever been with. So fucking petite. Don’t know if you can take me.”

“I can get myself ready,” X says in what he hopes to be reassuring as he reaches a hand down to start activating the lubricant. It would be an awful waste that they got this far and X doesn’t get to test his pseudo-genitalia.

“I can do that for you, babe,” Lane purrs. “Least I can do for you getting us such a nice space.” He mouths against X’s chest, but X nudges the man’s head to go lower, preventing Lane from lingering below X’s chin. It will be problematic if the human notices that the android does not have a heartbeat.

Lane lets himself get pushed down, trailing lower and lower while he shakes off his boxers, revealing his member – which X is satisfied to see that the size isn’t impossible for him after all.

Lane spreads X’s legs apart, licking into the android’s inner thigh.

“Hi pretty thing,” the man laughingly greets at X’s pseudo-vagina, gently removing X’s hand away from it.

Then the android feels the man’s tongue swipe at it and it takes everything in X to not openly panic.

_Smelt me! I forgot that humans lick each other down there!_

That’s it, X has given himself away as a robot. Lane is definitely going to notice something weird about the flavor. X doesn’t know what vaginal fluids are supposed to taste and now it’s too rusting late to do anything about it.

Before X can hurriedly close his legs and start running for the door, Lane’s voice peeks out from below.

“Shit you’re so wet and sweet, you already lubed yourself up?”

“...yes,” X says, stunned.

“God, you’re so ready for this aren’t you.”

“...yes,” X repeats, still at a loss at his stupidly good luck. X hasn’t failed his mission after all.

Slowly X finds himself relaxing to Lane’s administrations as there’s no mention on anything strange about his biology, which means that X’s craftsmanship passes. 

Wait, Lane called him ‘shy.’ X can’t be totally quiet. He forces his breathing to sound louder, adding a gasp and moan here and there, which spurs Lane to exert a greater effort. Makes sense: responsiveness increases confidence in one’s sexual prowess.

Except X isn’t anywhere close to the rapture that people claim to feel during sex from the internet. In fact, he may have reaped more pleasure from masturbating than anything he experienced since he stepped into the room?

It’s not that oral feels bad. It just feels…exactly what it is: a tongue and a mouth laving over his sensitive area. At least X can confirm that physical stimulation is working as intended.

Internally he worries. Has he mess something up? Did he masturbate so much that even his Infinity Potential System finds this to be not particularly special? Or possibly Lane is as inexperienced as X is and X doesn’t know because the android has no previous background to make comparisons? Perhaps he’s just so high maintenance worrying that he’s going to give himself away as a non-human that he can’t properly enjoy this?

A thumb traces over the clitoris and X jolts from his speculations.

“You’re still so fucking tight,” Lane rumbles, fingers working around that has X likening it to a pipe check.

Worried that Lane may not advance any further, X hurriedly says, “No, please try!” Smelt it, he needs to test the sexual intercourse contact and here’s a perfectly fine opportunity. He does not want to leave empty-handed. “I’m wet, aren’t I? Just go slow, I know I can take all of you.”

Lane lets out a long moan. X doesn’t know why. He didn’t do anything but talk.

“That’s the cutest begging I’ve ever heard Max. I’ll be gentle, I promise.”  
Lane grabs X’s knees and pushes them apart, leaning in close to rub his bulge against X. X can feel the tip teasing right at his entrance –

Then the Hunter freezes.

“Wait, did you hear that?” X says, quickly rising to his forearms, one hand out on Lane’s chest to stop the man from going any further.

“Hear what?”

X turns up his hearing sensitivity as high as he can without his helmet on.

“Someone’s screaming,” the hunter reports.

“So we’re not the only ones having fun, come on Max,” Lane urges.

There’s activity going downstairs – no, not the floor below them but even further down. Ground level.

As he continues to listen, X’s core drops into his compact tank when he recognizes the unmistakable sound of suppressed gunshots. The clamoring is continuing at a raising volume and people are screaming in what he guesses is the hotel lobby.

Automatically X’s previous mindset viciously tossed aside for combat mode. Lane yelps as X swiftly hops off the bed in one fluid motion, slipping into his clothes in record speed.

“Max, what the fu – “

“Lane, listen to me,” commands the Leader of the Seventeenth, effectively shutting the other man up. “Put on your clothes and leave the hotel as fast as possible. Do not go to the lobby. There’s instructions for an emergency evacuation route next to the elevators: read them and take a route that will let you leave from the back. I repeat _, do not enter the lobby_. As soon as you’re outside of immediate danger, call for help.”

Ignoring the human’s confused, spluttering noises, Mega Man X sprints out of the room.

* * *

The hotel’s stairs are ringed and so X vaults over the rails, hopping side to side on his way down until he passes all four stories without laying a fracture on the floor. At the sounds of muffled crying, X silently exits the stairs, maintaining his unnoticed advantage as he rounds around a corner to have a clear assessment of the situation.

The lobby is littered with bullet holes: shattered glass and splintered wood littering all over the once pristine floor. Furniture has been torn up, humans and reploids alike on the floor with their hands on their heads, whimpering. At the very center of the space is a fairly bulky, electric green reploid with no facial features asides from a pair of wild eyes holding a trembling blonde woman in a nonfatal chokehold, a gun to her temple.

“What do you want with my dad, you dumb robot?!” The woman cries. The arm around her neck grows tighter.

Hostage situation. Reploid involvement places it in Maverick Hunter’s jurisdiction.

X flips to his comm. _“X to Base, we have a maverick in the Violette House in Sector West-3! I need back-up!”_

_“Eh – Ehku – you’re fading – repea -!”_

Alia’s words are dipping in and out of a sea of static. Radio communications have been hampered. X realizes in alarm that without his helmet his transmissions range won’t be able to easily overpower whatever is interfering the signals.

Determined, he tries again, focusing everything he can to send a stable message. _“Maverick attack in the Violette House at Sector West-3! I need back-up!”_

_“Base to X, understood. Give us more details. Exactly what are we dealing with here? Can you de-escalate until the other units arrive?”_

_“I’m compromised,”_ X admits, strongly feeling the nakedness without his armor. _“I cannot directly engage combat without possibly high collateral.”_

Without his armor and stabilizers, if X were to fight with the maverick, not only can he be fatally injured, but any uncontrolled shots he makes can injure the civilians around him. If a maverick attacked somewhere else, X could have at least run to Cain Labs, re-equip, and head straight to the site of fire, but it’s happening right _here_ and he’s _stuck_.

Apparently the universe isn’t fond of X lately.

The operator’s voice becomes anxious. _“_ You’re _compromised? What’s going on X? Are you okay?”_

X hears another cry. His legs move before his processor can yell at him five blaring warnings with a powerpoint presentation on why running into danger without armor is an extremely bad idea.

_“X - !”_

_It’s the maverick,_ X realizes as Alia’s voice falls dead now once the android is standing in front of the reploid, empty hands raised high. _They’re jamming the radio._

“What are you doing human? Get on the floor like everyone else,” the maverick grunts, wild eyes focusing on X.

“Yeah Max, what the hell are you thinking? Get back here!” X hears Lane’s voice behind him.

He internally groans. The man didn’t listen to him. The android takes a glance behind him and spots his unfortunate partner who is thankfully dressed up though appearing pretty rumpled. At least he obeyed half of X’s instructions.

X repaid attention to the maverick in front of him, dismissing Lane’s call. “Hi, my name is Max,” he begins calmly. He sent his message to Hunter Base. He just has to stall for time until the Hunters arrive. “What’s your name?”

The gun goes from the woman’s head to X’s. “I don’t care now get on the ground!”

“Okay, okay, I will,” X reassures making a slow show of getting on his knees. He can hear hushed voices in the background telling him to shut up. “I just want to know your name.”

“My name isn’t important.”

“Well I don’t think like that. Right now, you’re the most important person in this room.”

The reploid laughs without humor. “Hah! I’m important now that I’m a Maverick, right? All it takes is a gun to get someone to pay attention to me. Now if only this waste of flesh’s father shows up then it’ll be all worth it.” The gun goes back to its previous position, the woman whimpering.

X sees the thread and lunges for it. “Why do you need to see her father? Did he wrong you?”

“Did he wrong me? DID HE WRONG ME!?” The maverick repeats shrilly. “Dr. Mikhailov _ruined_ me! He took my wings away!”

_What?_

Confused, X asks, “Your wings?”

The maverick sneers. “My name is Thunderbird. Makes no sense, right? I look humanoid but I didn’t always look like this.”

Oh no. X is starting to connect the dots.

“You were an animaloid.”

“I AM an animaloid!” Thunderbird insists, hackles rising. “ARF Corps built me for radio transmissions maintenance. I used to fly!” Their voice breaks at the last sentence. “Then that slag-for-brains Sigma rebelled during my training period and suddenly everyone’s afraid of animaloids! ARF couldn’t let me out without a bunch of whiny humans wondering when I was going to flip out!”

X closes his eyes, remembering the first generation Unit Leaders. Animaloids became further ostracized after Sigma’s rebellion and so many animaloids called for body customizations to avoid the prejudice. But some didn’t. The Father of All Reploids should have expected this.  

“So they brought you back into shop and took away what made you special,” X whispers, heart breaking.

Thunderbird nods. “I had my programming, my memories, and my training, but they didn’t matter! I was _so_ ready to do my job, but how could I when my body’s like _this_?”

They gestures themself with their armed hand. “I hate my body! I feel so – so small, and trapped, and it screws my processor every time I look at my reflection! I kept on asking them to give my old one back but they won’t. They just shoot me down every time.”

The maverick falls silent. Then they resurge, jostling their hold on their victim. “But not this time! This time I have the head scientist’s daughter! If Dr. Mikhailov won’t give me back my wings, then he can reset my mind! I’m just an expensive, ‘dumb robot,’ aren’t I?” They repeat mockingly though X can hear hurt underneath. “After throwing me out with nothing, the least they can do is give me a purpose again!”

X looks down at Thunderbird’s feet, holding back his tears. Quietly he asks, “Will Dr. Mikhailov get your message? I tried to call someone earlier and it couldn’t go through.”

“That’s me,” Thunderbird replies with a hint of pride. “I’m generating a customized electromagnetic shield. There’s only one message that can leave here and that’s for the good, old doctor.”

Ms. Mikhailov whispers, “He can’t fix you.”

“What did you say?”

“She’s right,” X answers recapturing Thunderbird’s focus back to him. “You’re not a ‘dumb robot.’ You’re a reploid, which makes you a _person_. Any attempts to tamper your mind will either cause extreme mental deterioration or death. That’s what makes you different from a normal robot. You can’t be reprogrammed or else it’ll break you.”

Thunderbird doesn’t have a beak, but their eyes say enough.

Their voice comes out sad and small. “Y-you mean I’m just stuck? I’m going to feel like this until I die?” They bow their head, despaired. “I never asked to be built this way!”

“I’m so sorry,” X murmurs sincerely. 

“Shut up! You’re a human!” Thunderbird roars. “You can’t possibly understand how this feels! You can choose to belong anywhere you want! I can’t!”

“You were built, abandoned, and now you’re alone without a stable directive,” X continues, empathizing. “You feel like your entire foundation was taken away from you. You feel like your _life_ was taken away from you. You don’t feel like you belong anywhere, even in your own body. That’s a horrible feeling to have, and I…I’m sorry, can I wipe my eyes?”

X couldn’t stop his tear ducts from activating. 

At his question, Thunderbird pauses, stunned. “I…I’ve never had anyone cry for me before…” They’re still maintaining their hold, but their entire body deflate as if all of their power left them.

“What the rust am I doing? I’m not going to get what I want. I’ve turned Maverick. The Hunters are going to execute me. What am I going to do?“

They sound so miserable. X can’t help himself.

“Did you hurt anyone so far?”

The young reploid shakes their head.

“Then the Hunters have no reason to retire you. Look, I personally know Dr. Cain.” At the name of the famous scientist, Thunderbird’s eyes widen. “If ARF Corps can’t help you, Cain Labs will.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” they ask suspicious though their tone is weak. 

“I could give a call to Dr. Cain right now, but..." He shrugs helplessly. "Transmissions are blocked. So you’re just going to have to trust me. Yes, you were built with a purpose in mind, but you’re not confined to your presets. You have free will. Will you use it and let me help you?”

Thunderbird doesn’t say anything. Just when X is getting nervous, they drop the gun and loosen up their hold. Ms. Mikhailov falls on the ground, crawling away to gain distance between her and the reploid.

The other people trapped in the lobby start cheering, some whooping “Go Thunderbird!” and one deep voice going, “Yeah, Max, that’s my girl!” (X nearly forgot that Lane is still in here, he’ll have to address the man later) as X raises from the ground, grinning. A maverick attack that didn't end in violence; this is worth a thousand interrupted tests.  

Then the sound of glass shattering breaks the moment.

X swivels towards the sound coming from the lobby entrance. “What is it now?!”

Green eyes boggle at what appears to be two units standing guard outside of the building while one floods into the lobby to attend to the civilians and taking positions behind a familiar warbot marching towards X and Thunderbird. X was so focused on his conversation with Thunderbird that he didn't notice that the Hunters have already entered in formation.

Still, three units including the Zeroth? Absolute overkill.  

For once the sight of red armor and long yellow hair does not make X happy.

 _I screwed up_ , the android thinks suddenly feeling very far away from where he is right now.

Thunderbird reels at the view of the infamous Crimson Hunter who nonchalantly broke through the front, the green reploid clumsily scattering backwards shouting, “I'm unarmed! I'm turning myself in!"

Zero's stride doesn't slow down. His long legs continue forward like a steady, unstopping tank, his usual stoic face wrapped in fury. The moment X sees Zero's hand reach backwards for the Z-Saber's hilt, X rushes in front of Thunderbird, back to the younger robot with his arms spread out protectively.

He pleads, “Don’t hurt them! This is just a misunderstanding!”  

“This maverick did something to X," Zero whispers so quietly even X has trouble hearing him. X shivers. The warbot's voice can intimidate an earthquake. " _Move_." 

“Wha – what are you talking about? Mega Man X was never here!” Thunderbird cries out behind X while the eponymous android suddenly wants to jump into a pool of acid and die.

X can way too easily imagine how Hunter Base overreacted: he was first to the scene, his last message that he was compromised, and all contact was blocked afterwards. Even now, the Hunters don’t ‘see’ the Seventeenth Unit Leader.

 _“Zero, stand down, it’s me!”_ X screams into their private channel only to curse when he receives nothing back. Whatever Thunderbird is doing to the waves is still going - he can’t get through!

“Max, get out of the way, that’s fucking Zero!” yells a voice from the side. 

And Lane is still here, oh no, oh no no no no no - if X reveals his identity out loud, Maverick Hunter Base will be in the media headlines for weeks. He has to do something.

X watches in growing horror as his best friend takes a step back, the bloodlust slowly leaving those severe, ice blue eyes as they twist in confusion the longer they’re on X.

Zero is looking at X as if he can dissect the Azure Hunter's soul.

The red combatdroid’s words from the Borer incident echoes back to the Blue Bomber. _“Of course I pay attention to you.”_

X can see, in his specialized broad-range eye camera and amazing framerate, the exact moment when Zero finally recognizes X through his human guise. The blond warrior’s mouth opens to make that one syllable that will end the Blue Bomber's - and by extension the Maverick Hunters' - dignity forever.

Combat mode engaged. Mission: Go full fucking liar.

Unthinkingly, X tackles the taller robot in inhuman speed, his arms wrapped tightly around Zero’s neck. X full-bodily presses against Zero's armor. The Zeroth Unit Leader shouts in surprise.

“X, what are you – “

There's really only one thing X can do in this situation. 

He kisses the warbot, hard. X devours any sound that threatens to leave Zero’s vocals, taking Lane’s example from earlier and shoves his tongue pass the warbot’s slacked lips. X moans into the kiss, a long obscene sound that successfully conquers anything else Zero could possibly say.

 _I'm so sorry Zero_ , X silently apologizes. 

The warbot is so still he’s less of an android and more of a very shiny, colorful statue with magnificent hair. 

Then X parts away, tucking his head right over Zero’s shoulder and whispers close to the warbot’s aural cone.

“Don’t you dare say my name out loud if you don’t want me to spar with you for an entire year,” Mega Man X threatens darkly. 

Zero is unresponsive. The red Hunter's arms are stock frozen in the air. 

X takes pity. “I’ll explain everything later. Don’t terminate the reploid behind me. Protect them for me. Please.”

Zero twitches his head. X hopes it’s a nod.

X pulls away, loudly proclaiming, "Oh Zero, I'm your biggest fan! I couldn't help myself! I know you're an upstanding and responsible Hunter who don't hurt innocent people so I  _know_ you won't hurt Thunderbird, right?"

 

X turns to the shocked young reploid behind him, voice straining in false cheer. “Thunderbird, good news! You can trust Mr. Zero to take care of you. Tomorrow, I'm going to contact Dr. Cain to come see you, okay?"

Thunderbird nods dumbly. At least there's someone around here still functioning. 

It’s only when X releases himself from Zero's body that he notices that the entire lobby is dead silent save for the distant sirens outside of the hotel. 

X continues to keep smiling because he does not know what else he can do. “I’m – I’m just going to go now. Yeah. Glad that no one got hurt.” He gives a half-hearted, double thumbs up. 

He glimpses at the shattered front door and sees rows of Hunters gaping, weapons slack in their hands. Instantly changing course, X awkwardly makes his way toward the emergency back exit of the hotel, one hand partially covering his face as if that'll help physically shield him from the uncomfortable atmosphere. X spots Lane, who's standing by, opening and closing his mouth comically like a broken drone bot. X makes a disquieted noise and gently pushes pass the man, refusing to make any eye contact with any of the other shocked humans and reploids in the lobby. 

Taking full advantage that he single-handedly broken everyone’s minds in a matter of minutes, X power walks to the back of the hotel and starts a full sprint away from the scene the moment he hears the riot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say this is crack treated straight? I lied. This story is officially straight up crack.
> 
> 06/15/18 Edit: Fanart is done by the wonderful nerii who has a tumblr that goes by "tealsalmon" (ugh everything is beautiful and I'm just going to lay down and cry forever, never in a bajillion years did I ever expect this crack fic would ever get fanart ;A;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, thank you guys so much for the comments and kudos! I love how some of you guys are like "PLEASE have Zero HELP X already!,” which I understand (lol) and others are like “Aw yeah, finally some plot!” I have one thing to say to all of you guys:  
> I have no idea what the fuck is happening. My nice simple outline for nice simple crack is in the trash heap along with my soul. Enjoy.

Once X is back in signal range he contacts Hunter Base and confirms that he’s one hundred percent okay.

Physically at least. No one needs to gauge his psychological disposition. As far as he’s concerned, X himself is still processing the sheer absurdity he had just gone through.

Either way he makes a feeble lie to Command Center on why he had to stay low during the entire hostage situation.

 _“A buster malfunction, sir.”_ Alia deadpans unbelievingly under a cool guise.

 _“Buster malfunction_ ,” X repeats. _“I’m heading to Cain Labs to have it checked out.”_

_“Forgive my unprofessionalism, sir, but really? We were lucky that some random human had the cables - I mean guts, to talk down an armed Maverick, but that was a situation you could have handled. What happened just now was unnecessarily risky. A civilian could have gotten injured.”_

_“Alia, I know,”_ X sighs miserably. _“Believe me I was keeping an eye on it from afar. I didn’t want to reveal my position in case the maverick could take advantage of my vulnerability. But If the situation escalated – which, thankfully it didn’t - I would have stepped in. I’ll write a report.”_

He will but X is well aware that as one of the most senior members of the Maverick Hunters he can write a sad, vague paragraph and no one would dare interrogate Mega Man over a basically solved incident. Now that X is in this deep, why not just take it all the way?

 _Father, you gave me the power to become anything and I used it to become a horrible person,_ X thinks wretchedly, imagining Dr. Light’s kind smile. _Forgive me._

Something in X’s voice must have had Alia to take sympathy because she backs off.

_“Massive property damage aside, it’s a happy ending. Will you be staying at Cain Labs for the night, sir? I can report to the Commander that you’re having a med check-up.”_

_“I will. Thank you Alia.”_

_“My pleasure, sir. Have a good night.”_

Taking the most roundabout route to Cain Labs to avoid anyone as much as possible, X dashes as fast as he can without destabilizing his leg actuators through shadowed back alleys and fire escape stairs.

In the middle of the night there’s barely anyone else in the labs except the security guards, who X doesn’t confront by entering the unmanned loading dock entrance from the side, reserved for those with the highest clearance.

Ten minutes later X is back in his familiar blue armor, sitting next to Dr. Cain with his head stuffed into his crossed arms on the man’s desk. Face burning, he groans as if in incredible pain into his arms. He’s doing his best to become a tiny blue ball merged to the furniture like a second rate, contemporary art piece. 

Dr. Cain, after hearing X’s abridged tale, is having the time of his life.  

“L-Let me get this straight,” the roboticist wheezes, “In the past couple of hours, you tried to have s-sex. Then a maverick shows up in the same goddamn hotel, which somehow ended up with you k-kiss – “

The bearded man couldn’t finish. He’s cackling so hard that he starts coughing harshly, pounding his chest. X would be concerned of a potential heart attack except his sympathy for the merciless doctor evaporated away.

“At least someone finds this funny,” X mutters bitterly.

“You kissed _Zero!_ ” Dr. Cain crows. “The Crimson Hunter. The Zeroth Unit Leader. The Maverick Hunters’ Red Ripper – oh lord, I wish I could have seen his face!”

“Please stop,” X whines pathetically over his folded arms. “This is absolutely mortifying.” Recalling the moment, his face twists in sympathy. “Poor Zero. I think I _broke_ him.”

The doctor falls into a helpless fit of laugher all over again.

“How did my life gone to the bolts like this?” X wonders out loud.

“Honestly it could have gone a lot worse,” Dr. Cain says, his chuckles softening. “Thunderbird hasn’t been terminated. You can take solace in that.”

X smiles though it comes out weak. He really is happy about that but he’s just so tired. The day’s mental and emotional exhaustion are catching up to him now that the excitement is over.

Dr. Cain shakes his head. “ARF Corps really screwed this one up. Specialized reploids are having it hard enough as it is coming out with nothing but their initial directive. Tossing out a child with dysphoria like that? Tasteless.”

The man turns to his computer, bony fingers flying across the keyboard. “Anyways, the kid will be fine. I’m sending a message to the Maverick Hunters – I got a couple ideas on what to do with this mess. You can stop worrying. Well, about Thunderbird at least.” He smirks. “You still got shit to sort out with Zero.” 

X returns to burying within himself again. “I still can’t believe I kissed him.”

“Finally,” the doctor mutters.

“What was that?”

“I said funny,” Dr. Cain answers, lips twitching. When he receives a pair of narrowed green eyes, the roboticist shrugs. “What? You have to admit, among all the things you could have done you chose to canoodle.”

“It was the only thing I could think of at the time.”

Kissing Zero was a strategy. It was a last second decision that X hoped to deter the warbot from executing his murderous intent. Now it’s another thing X can’t stop thinking about.

“Look it’s just a kiss,” Dr. Cain says nonchalantly returning to his keyboard. “Compare to everything else that happened tonight, it’s practically nothing.” 

* * *

 

“Morning X, remember what I said last night? I lied.”  

“Dr. Cain please, I just left recharge,” X says blearily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He can hear the capsule’s glass shielding still rising open.

Barely a second later, X registers something is wrong.

During the middle of his daily diagnostic check, an overwhelming noise drops into his head. It’s as if X has teleported into the center of a screaming river of people and some of them have megaphones right into his ears. Eyes tightly shut, he staggers out of the tube, knees hitting the floor with a clunky thud.

“X!” the android hears the doctor’s voice shouting in concern, his proximity sensor alerting him of a presence above him.

The blue android raises a hand up. “I’m alright!” X grits out with a hand grabbing at his helmet. “My communications network is on fire, hang on.”

It takes less than a minute to disable all channels, which itself is anxiety inducing in another way. X has always been available for someone to reach him in case something happens.

With nothing but the background drones of machinery and the slightly rasping breathing of an elderly human, all contained in a quiet recharge space, X feels more in-tune with reality.  

 _This is quite refreshing_ , X marvels. _I don’t think I’ve ever been this alone with myself since I’ve woken up from hibernation._

But he’s a Maverick Hunter. Even now he feels the itching urge to check in what’s going on with the world. Mega Man X always has to pay attention to the world.

X can feel the roboticist sag in relief. “Considering what’s going on right now, I’m not surprised. I recommend you give yourself at least half an hour before you open up a channel.”

“I have to keep a channel to Hunter Base at least,” X points out, running a system diagnostic again to see if he’s truly alright before he does anything major. When he checks his internal chronometer, X’s eyes snap open. “It’s already eight? I need to get to base now!”

“Actually you don’t. I called the Hunters to keep you here a little longer thanks to a - what did you call it? A buster malfunction,” the roboticist says with amusement coloring his tone. “Since the Maverick Hunters have other a whole ‘nother monster to deal with, I don’t think they’ll mind much.”

The Elite Unit Leader jerks his head up just in time to see Dr. Cain climbing back onto a pulled-up chair in front of him. The man was waiting for X to wake up apparently. “Why did you do that?” X asks. “What’s going on, Dr. Cain? Did something happen while I was asleep?”

The bearded man takes out his data pad from his pocket, pressing a few buttons before he flips the device around for X’s gaze. “It’s best to show you.”

X blinks. He refocuses his eye cameras then blinks some more.

It’s a high definition profile shot of the exact moment when he jumped Zero.

X is frozen in the air mid-jump, outstretched arms over the taller Hunter’s shoulders like a pair of wings, his blue hoodie lifting slightly in motion. The warbot is stepping backwards from the impact, golden hair flowing majestically around them. X’s arm to the camera obstructs the actual kiss, but there’s no mistake of what’s going on based on the sheer closeness of their faces. If anything, with X’s closed eyes contrasting with Zero’s shocked ones, it’s more dramatic. On the very far right side is a glimpse of Thunderbird, their arms guarded in front of themself.

It’s a movie poster worthy image for any chick flick except it happened in real life. On the bottom right corner there’s a complimentary note that it was kindly provided by a reploid security worker.

X feels heat climbing to his face. “Someone took a photo and uploaded it online,” he says as neutrally as possible. ”What does this have to do with me being placed into off-duty?”

“Everything,” Dr. Cain responds bluntly. “People are calling it the ‘Flower Power Photo’ of this century. The ‘V-J Day in Times Square,’ the ‘Le baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville’ - take your pick. And it is _everywhere._ ”

_Everywhere?!_

“But why? It’s just a kiss! I mean…” X gestures at it weakly, growing self-conscious. “Objectively speaking, it’s a very well taken photo but…”

“All over the news, all over social media, anywhere that can host a damn photo,” Dr. Cain continues. “It’s so famous that there’s apparently an unofficial, active search for a student named ‘Max’ at Abel City Institute of Technology. You’ve got Hunters blocking journalists from trying to sneak into Hunter Base to get interviews.”

X feels his processor growing static.

_I tried to avert a media fallout and it still happened anyway._

X staggers up, green eyes staring off into nothing as he begins putting together a to-do list. “I have to get to headquarters right now. Just because they put me into reserve doesn’t mean I can’t do damage control. It’s likely that people are trying to reach me if Hunter Base wants me to stay put here. No one has probably made the connection between me and ‘Max’ yet so maybe they’re asking through me for...”

X gasps. “Zero! It’s my fault that he’s in the spotlight! I have to go see him, need to catch up on everything that had happened since last night - !”

Dr. Cain pokes X’s head, cutting off the android’s rambling. “Just hold on for a sec. This doesn’t deserve another of your worry spirals. I recommend you don’t start looking anything up either. I’ve got people dragging my younger reploid employees back into their recharge tubes because half of them collapsed from hyper info absorption.” The doctor grimaces. “Clearly work is going to be cut short today.”

Still distressed, X retorts, “I still need to go back!”

“Calm down. The world didn’t blow up while you slept and it won’t blow up if you take a break from babysitting it. Now keep your buster disengaged and give this old man an hour, will you? I personally want to discuss with you about the domino effect you’ve unleashed.”   

The Blue Bomber’s shoulders drop. “How bad is it? How much do you know what’s going on?”

Dr. Cain reaches up to stroke his long beard, humming. “Bad isn’t quite the right word to use. What happened last night certainly exploded, but I find it a good thing. In my opinion, the world needed something like this after the Maverick War.” The doctor says the last part quietly like a eulogy.

This…is quite a subject to talk about.

In a low voice, X gingerly asks, “Can you please elaborate?”

The roboticist shakes his head as if to ward off the past. “X, think. Have you ever seen any human-reploid relationships that go beyond platonism in public?”

X reviews through his memories and shakes his head.

“When a reploid asked me about having sexual equipment weeks ago, that was honestly the first time I’ve heard of a reploid dating a human,” the android admits quietly.

“Reploids and humans don’t know what to make out of each other, X.” The doctor rubs circles into his temples. “No matter how well you integrate reploids into human society by supplying them work, both peoples are too foundationally different.”

“I’m aware,” murmurs the Father of All Reploids.

Afraid of what’s different is an ancient fear. How else can the world react to an entirely new race of people all of a sudden with no historical precedent to fall back on? Instead of shoehorning social progress, X believed that both humans and reploids simply needed to get used to the other’s presence.

Dr. Cain leans back, sighing through his long point nose. “Reploids stand in a murky gray area, X. They enter the world with plenty of knowledge and skills, but without the experience and maturity that are expected to come with them. They don’t have medical insurance, but they’ll also never need to go through chemo. They’re disenfranchised, but the oldest reploid was…he didn’t even reach his first decade.”

Oh Sigma. X’s heart aches at the reminder of Dr. Cain’s lost son.

The elderly man points at the blue android. “You told me a long time ago that reploids are intimidated by anything too organic. It’s the same for the other side: there’s more than plenty of humans out there afraid of anything too robotic. The war certainly didn’t help.”

Whatever social progress made was destroyed so quickly. Humans began fearing reploids and the distance between both peoples grew. X was so distraught but he didn’t know what was the best course of action to take after such a tragedy. The safest was returning to Hunter Base with Zero and working hard to restore the Maverick Hunters’ reputation, hoping that time would heal wounds.

Then Dr. Cain claps, startling X out of his trance. A toothy grin grows on the man’s face and the sober atmosphere brightens with it.

“That’s why the kiss is revolutionary. As far as the world is concerned, last night a human civilian sympathized with a reploid. And not just any reploid - a _maverick_. She talked to them like an equal and allowed their plight to be known to others. Then when a Hunter came, the same human stood up to him to protect the maverick.”

The man’s gray eyes twinkle. “Not only did you disregard the invisible interracial taboo between humans and reploids, you’ve lifted all reploids’ life value.”

Well rust. When it’s put into context like that.

“I…I was just doing my job without giving myself away…” X whispers. “I didn’t think what people would take away from it.”

_This doesn’t feel real._

X glances at the data pad in Dr. Cain’s hands, green eyes boring into that thin piece of metal as if he can extract all the news and conversations based on the Violette with his mind. Maybe if he goes online the reality will finally hit him and his shock can give way then.

“Congratulations, X. By going out to get banged, you unintentionally made history. Again.” Dr. Cain snorts towards the ceiling. “I take everything I said about sex back. Indirectly, sex may be the best thing that has ever happened to reploid-kind. God, this is insane.”

“But Max isn’t real. The story that the world believes in is a lie.” X has been lying so much lately but this time it’s too much. “What do I do?”

“Nothing.” When the android shoots a sharp look at the doctor, the roboticist returns it evenly. “Did you know that for the longest time no one could properly identify the kissers in the V-J Day photo? But the mystery didn’t diminish the significance of it.”

X exvents. He understands what the man is implying. It still doesn’t make the cross wires in his chest feel anymore untangled though. X will always know the truth.

But this lie no longer belongs to him. The world owns it now. Some matters are worth more than personal preferences.

Feeling steadier, X quietly yet sincerely says, “Thank you, Dr. Cain.”

Max will quietly disappear from the public eye along with any lingering obligations attached to her. The Azure Hunter has more than plenty to attend to, but there’s one thing he wants to address first.

Gathering his will, X opens up a specific comm channel and says, “ _Zero, are you there? I owe you an explanation.”_

* * *

X isn’t answering his comm.

He’s neither in his room nor in his office. In fact, he hasn’t come back to base at all. Zero can’t find him anywhere. He asked the blue android’s Navigator and Alia said that X is having a checkup for a buster malfunction. Her tone implies that she doubts it, but she doesn’t openly voice it.

Zero knows it’s a lie. He saw X last night and X was completely okay. Even if something happened to be wrong with X’s armor that required the other android to de-equip them, Zero knows that X has impeccable self-repair. With the right materials, the Blue Bomber’s nanites would take care of the problem and he’d heal up quick. There’s no need for him to go so far to see Dr. Cain except to hide.

It’s the one thing that makes sense. Last night X told him not to say his name out loud, which implies that the Azure Hunter was conducting a covert operation.

That he didn’t tell Zero about.

It frustrates the warbot to no end.

What’s worse is that the he’s been ordered to keep a low profile and stay put in Hunter Base save for an emergency. Normally Zero would outright disobey any order he finds insensible no matter the authority behind it and would be marching straight to Cain Labs.

Except he does see reason in this. Currently there are crowds of news reporters and civilians camped outside of Maverick Hunters Headquarters like those pigeons that X feeds at the parks sometimes, hungering for a glimpse of the Crimson Hunter like breadcrumbs. And Zero can’t cut them down. They didn’t do anything that makes them worthy of being assessed as a threat. They’re just occupying space. Living obstacles.

 _No, not obstacles. People. They’re people,_ Zero reminds himself.

He’s getting antsy. He needs to do something.

The sim room it is then.

Everyone else is busier than him now. Uncertain if the Violette House incident may cause an upsurge of potential maverick attacks, more units are out on patrol for easy prevention and immediate responsiveness. Operators are working overtime as unnecessary calls flood into Hunter Base. The Commander is out making a public address on behalf of the Hunters.

With so many people gone, the warbot has the entire simulation gym all to himself for a couple of hours. The warbot starts up a customized training regime: a fast moving target practice except there’s over fifty targets and they’re all well-armed, aggressive hostiles. Every time it’s activated, the program randomizes the hostiles’ movement patterns and locations. The Zeroth Unit Leader uses it for light exercise and punish the occasionally cocky new recruit.

The moment the lights dim and the background transforms into a shadowy, run-down warehouse building full of abandoned towers of heavy crates and pulley equipment, Zero draws his Z-Saber and enters autopilot.

His body falls into the natural rhythm of dodging and slicing, dashing into the dark and sneak killing auto-generated mavericks. He’s accumulating a kill streak without a stray wire.

One hostile notices Zero’s presence before the warbot could bisect it. It lunges toward him frontally, arms spread wide.

Zero decapitates the AI in a whirl of gold and red, ruthlessly seizing the body to shield himself from incoming plasma shots before snatching the gun from the dead hostile’s loosened grip. He fatally shoots three more with the stolen weapon then tosses the scorched frame at another maverick attempting to ambush him from the side. He calmly strides to the fallen maverick struggling under the weight and presses his foot onto its crown. With the slightest pressure, circuitry and fluids splatter beneath him.

Twenty-three targets already dead. Zero’s lips curl in silent distaste.

_Too easy._

Instead of clearing his processor, this simulation is only increasing his ire. That AI, the one that tried to jump him. It was mirroring the same thing X did last night. 

_If I was sparring X right now it would actually be fun._

Fun and precious. The other android avoids violence if he can, but he’s willing to reserve the time and effort to challenge Zero. That’s what makes them special. It shows how much X works hard to maintain his connection to Zero despite claiming that he belongs to the world. And even then it’s okay because Zero is part of that world.

Except their spars have been dropping in quality recently. X hasn’t been a good friend lately. If Zero is just a part of the world, doesn’t that just mean Zero matters to X as much as the next person does?

Clenching his jaw, Zero shakes his head furiously. _There’s twenty-seven more to terminate. Don’t stall._

After all, introspection is what X does, not him.

The combatdroid is not naturally inclined to it because it can act as a liability. It can impede progress in a situation that calls for action. It’s the reason the warbot had to mentor the rusting Father of All Reploids when Sigma used to be Commander: X worries so much that it causes the blue android to hesitate when he needs to make a decision. And Zero isn’t allowed to hesitate ever. A second delay can be death.

But he did hesitate last night. Because it was X.

With more force than necessary, Zero slams a hostile by the throat against the nearest wall. The impact births cracks across the surface and when he lets go the body stays pinned.

 _Control,_ he chastises himself. _There’s no reason to get so worked up._

The insidious part of his programming whispers that there is one. X told him that Zero is his best friend - so why is the Blue Bomber putting Zero behind? He’s been either omitting information or outright lying lately if last night was any indication. It’s to the extent that he pulled the warbot into this PR mess in the first place. Zero rose from recharge this morning to other Hunters _approaching_ him, yammering excitedly and crowding him with data pads, trying to strike conversations over - over what? Something about a meme?

Zero doesn’t even remember or care. Something as chaotic as the internet never interested him and he was overcome with a memory of the time when the pre-war Hunters viewed him as the abandoned, broken child and wanted to be _friends_ with him of all things. Driven by a dangerous curiosity to glean more about the mysterious, amnesiac robot that wiped out an entire squad and nearly terminated their seemingly infallible Commander. An exhilarating game, to play with fire.

Or perhaps they believed if they were Zero’s allies, they would never face the other end of the Z-Saber? Not that it helped them. In the end they all turned traitor, and Zero and X had to put them down. 

_X is going to explain everything. He said he will._

Knocking down a stack of crates, the Crimson Hunter uses the ensuing cloud dust like a blanket, slicing down four mavericks in the confusion.

_I just have to wait for him._

Wait for him? _Wait for him?_ When did someone else gain this much power over him?

This is dangerous. X is becoming dangerous.

The warbot ducks low and hides behind a nearby obstacle, giving himself a moment to mentally backtrack.

_What am I thinking?_

Facts: X is his friend. X is important. X is strong enough to be the one other person left after the war when everyone else died. X is worth being important. And Zero likes X. Zero prefers a world with nice and sensitive people like X who won’t do something incredibly stupid like committing senseless genocide than people like Zero. Simple.

But at least a world with people like Zero are easy to predict. When people like X suddenly strike, it’s harder to see it coming. Like Sigma.

_Shut up._

Threat assessment has been crossing wires since last night. What the rust is the warbot supposed to think, when X disguised himself so effectively that it actually took more than a _minute_ for Zero to recognize him? Rushing at him with the EAS like that – Zero could have reflexively killed him if he had any less control!

And it would have been easy too. No armor and no weapon. Mega Man X was entirely vulnerable and he dared to enter Zero’s kill zone. Unbeknownst to him, the Father of All Reploids was completely under the warbot’s power.

If Zero struck, X’s death would have belonged to him. The whole world wouldn’t have been able to do anything but _watch._  

Zero stabs the final target right in the chest where a core would be. Program successfully completed, the simulation dissolves and the space returns to normal. Back to default room temperature.

Yet he feels too cold and hot all over.

“ _Zero, are you there? I owe you an explanation.”_

The blue android’s voice suddenly chiming into his head right now is almost too much. Not too much for him to not respond though.

_“I’m here. Where are you?”_

_“On my way to base. If you’re not working on anything else right now, can you come see me at my room later? It’ll be easier to explain if I show you what I’ve been working on.”_

This is why Zero doesn’t like introspecting. Rather than meeting X in this strange mindset, the combatdroid wants to return to his tube. Must be why he’s thinking so much; he didn’t take a proper recharge after the Violette and now his processor is overcompensating.

But the sooner he sees X, the sooner the warbot can reevaluate him again.

Zero answers, _“I’ll see you soon.”_

He leaves the channel before X can respond. 

* * *

X knows the effectiveness of hiding in plain sight, but this is almost too much.

Using the Weapon Copy System to model his armor base on the standard civilian build (which he scanned from Nova when he first met them for security’s sake), X squeezes himself in between the pressed bodies of determined news reporters until he’s in front of Maverick Hunters Headquarters. The long-suffering guards are maintaining a solid front at the entrance and squint at the Seventeenth Unit Leader.

Then the Azure Hunter reverts back to his prominent design, casually strolling into the lobby before the crowd behind him can bombard him for quotes.

Though X is anxious to see his friend ASAP, he’s still a Unit Leader; he needs to cover all bases first lest duty interrupts him again as seems to be the recent pattern.

He turns on his comms channels one by one, catching up on his backlog feed and confirms that asides from staying put and not interacting with the press, he really doesn’t have much to do. He carefully avoids as many people as possible, sticking to greetings only to the few Hunters he comes across with, the younger reploids pouting when they lose their opportunity to discuss about Zero.

Wirelessly configuring his status as ‘Reserve” on Maverick Hunters contact cloud, X briskly walks to his quarters, hoping that this time the universe will be so kind to leave him alone for today. 

Okay. How is X going to do this?

Zero told X that the warbot will see him but didn’t mention exactly when, leaving the blue android to pace back and forth in his room, brainstorming.

How does he even begin explaining? How much detail does X have to go into about human sexual reproduction in order to provide enough context for the mod project? How it led him to embark on a crazy field test that somehow unintentionally cannonballed Zero onto the public stage?

Maybe X should make a slide presentation. Bring in a projector and use a laser pointer.

X stops within his tracks and brings up his hands to slap his cheeks. No worry spirals. Right now it’s doing nothing but overworking him. He’s going to have a chat with his best friend, not enter combat.

Despite that thought, X nearly jumps at a series of sharp knocks crack across his door. The hollow sound of echoing metal jumpstarts X’s core all over again.

The Azure Hunter sim-swallows. Alright, time to throw a wrench at it.

“I’m here,” X says aloud. “You can come in, Zero.”

Six beeps later the door curtly slides open for the red warbot. The door quietly shuts behind the blond android with a soft hiss as if it’s holding its breath too.

_Hi Zero, how are you doing? Did you recharge well? I hope you did or else you might enter forced sleep mode while I explain what sex is and its other functions beyond reproduction. It’s a lot of information going into human biology and bonding chemicals, relationship development and social importance, and relating all of that for furthering human-reploid peaceful coexistence, but please bear with me._

Anything X prepared for wipes clean from his processor at the sight of Zero’s sharp blue eyes.

They’re assessing him. X is back in his helmet and armor but he feels as susceptible as he was wearing clothing. Zero’s expression is carefully neutral, which is arguably worse than if the warbot was expressing any negative emotion.

It means that Zero is hiding from X.

And X deserves it because he’s been hiding from Zero too.

“I’m sorry!” X blurts out automatically.

He glances down to his hands wringing in front of him. He didn’t notice that they moved. “I’ve caused a lot of trouble for you. I was trying to complete a project by myself without including anyone but it involved you anyway. I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark and…”

X faces towards the side, helpless to stop the heat climbing to his face. “I’m sorry for kissing you and running off afterwards. I left you alone to deal with that oil spill and I shouldn’t have.”

When he receives silence in return, X lifts his head up warily. ”Zero?”

The warbot has his eyes closed, head tilted back as if he’s completely done with X. It’s an improvement over the previous chilliness, X notes, trying to be optimistic.

“Just tell me what your mod project is already,” the warbot says finally. “You told me it’s complicated, but at this point I don’t care if it breaks my processor. It must be important enough that it required me to lie for you.”

X blinks. “’Lie?”'

“You told me not to say your name out loud,” Zero reminds the blue android. “My understanding is that you were in incognito. After you ran off, I had to keep on telling people that I didn’t know who the crazy human was.” The warbot’s lip twitch humorlessly. “You did ask me to cover for you.”

Oh. Right. It wasn’t exactly the kind of cover that X expected to need, but it was more than appreciative all the same.  

Anyways, time to do his best to make this as simple as possible.

X turns to his desk and mindlessly sweeps some of the piling papers and equipment to the side, reaching for the bionic penis.

“The mod I’m working on is a body customization to allow reploids to have sex,” X begins slowly. “It’s not for the sake of reproduction – that’s impossible. But sex is another aspect of humanity that reploids can’t relate and so it serves as a disconnect between humans and reploids. I’m trying to create pseudo-genitalia in order to bridge that gap.”

Okay, that wasn’t too bad. Now to explain why X limited the test subject to himself only and –

“So,” Zero says pointing at the device in X’s hand. “That thing isn’t a model? That’s a functioning penis?”

Wait. _What._

X’s mind statics to a complete halt as Zero approaches him closer, the taller android bending down to take a closer examination of the pseudo-penis in X’s hand.  

“W-Wha – “ X flounders for words to say until he finally settles on,” You know what this is?”

Zero looks back to X, brows furrowing. “It’s a penis,” the warbot declares.

“But how do you know?!”

“What do you mean how? It’s already in my database.”

Silence befalls in the Seventeenth Unit Leader’s quarters. A Navigator could be communicating three different units on route right now and still be able to hear a pin drop inside X’s room from the other side of headquarters. 

Processor officially blown, X repeats, “It’s already in your database.”

“Yes,” Zero confirms. “Why are you so surprised?”

X raises a hand to his helmet. “How can I _not_ be? The average reploid has no idea what it is when they first see it.” Less alone a combatdroid like Zero. “Reploids aren’t educated on human anatomy, less alone their excretory and reproductive systems. Every time a Hunter saw me working on the construction of the male pseudo-genitalia, they always thought I was developing a bizarre looking bullet!”

Zero scoffs. “As if the genitalia can ever be as effective as a buster. Too sensitive, too vulnerable, and all it takes is a hard stomp for it to bend a human in half.”

Oh. That explains it.

X’s shock gives away for an understanding that weighs like stones.  

“You know what it is…because it’s a physical weakness to take advantage of if you ever fight a human,” X says emotionlessly. Of course. Warbot education. What did he expect.

“You’re upset,” Zero observes.

“It disturbs me,” X admits quietly, “because it implies that you’re ready to hurt a human anytime.”

“I’m ready to hurt anyone anytime,” the warbot points out. “Even if you never done any work on me, you can tell that I’m designed to be a weapon. When an enemy appears in front of me, I will destroy it. Humans aren’t a special case.”

X gawks, alarmed. “You’re not a weapon, you’re a Hunter!”

“Then I’m a weapon against Mavericks. Same tool, specific target.”

“Zero, there’s more to you than being a weapon.” X believes in that, but now he’s worrying that Zero doesn’t.

_How long has he been viewing himself so narrowly like this? Since the war? Before then?_

“You’re a leader, a mentor, and a hero!”

“X, I’m not a hero.”

The blue android throws his arms in the air. “Yes you are!”

X is tempted to grab the taller android’s collar and shake him. “When Sigma declared war against humanity to force reploid evolution, you stood against him! You stood by me!”

Zero’s expression twists. “X, I could have hurt you last night,” the combatdroid confesses quietly, hands curling into fists. “Even though I recognized you, my threat assessment still viewed you as a target. If I didn’t stop myself in time…”

“But you didn’t,” X replies firmly. Does Zero honestly expect that to scare X? If anything, it increases X’s respect for the Crimson Hunter.

“Because you threw my threat assessment into the bolts,” Zero snaps. “You’re my friend, but you’re also the most powerful individual I’ve ever met. And you rushed within my saber range with no armor.” Zero’s expression turns scornful. “Why were you not wearing armor during a rusting maverick attack? What was that about?”

X’s anger flushes out from him, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“I was trying to have sex," the blue android mutters, looking to the side and breaking eye contact from Zero. "That’s why I was pretending to be a human back at the hotel. If anyone knew who I was…”

Between kissing Zero as a human and being revealed to having an attempted one-night stand as Mega Man X, X will always choose the former.

Zero’s eyes light up in comprehension. “You wanted to see if you can fool me too!”

The warbot nods. “Of course, it wouldn’t be an effective mod if you couldn’t fool someone who was close to you. I’m impressed.” Zero sounds approving. “Good job, X. I didn’t think you had it in you. And I thought my threat assessment of you couldn’t raise any higher."

_What on earth?_

X stares. “You lost me. How did I raise your threat assessment?”  

Zero tilts his head. “Aren’t you creating pseudo-genitalia for entrapments?”

The Mega Man falls speechless.

_Sex can be utilized as a weapon by terrible people. Consider the consequences if you make this, X._

“Entrapments,” X repeats because he doesn’t know what else to say.

“Considering your personality, you might go through some bumps but you're adaptable. You can pull them off,” Zero says almost encouragingly, not realizing that there’s so many things wrong with what the warbot just said.

X needs to sit down.

“It’s good to see that you’re preparing ahead of time,” Zero muses out loud. “With weaponry as powerful as they are right now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see if cyberattacks and espionage will be the main battlefield sometime later in the future.”

Park and pigeons. That sounds like a wonderful idea to X. Go take a walk at a park and feed some pigeons. Call Dr. Cain about how to further compact reploid chassis.

“But we’re Maverick Hunters, not soldiers. There’s no need for us to get involved in human wars, unless you predict that we will be utilized that way? Is that why you’re already creating a means for honeypot?”   

Better thought, how about X pulls the Commander aside and propose a full-scale investigation utilizing the Recon Unit to search through Zero’s backgrounds? Find out who Zero’s builder is and bring him in.

Because it seems that Zero was apparently built to destroy a government if the warbot has techniques recorded from the rusting _Cold War_ of all things.

“I’m not planning to use it to set up any sting operations, Zero." 

Zero frowns. “Then just camouflage? Seems like a waste of potential.”

_Oh rust._

“Zero, I am personally against emotional manipulation.”

“Me too. My conclusion from historical archives is that seduction can solve short-term problems but not much beyond that.” Zero shrugs with one shoulder. “Still, it’s good to have plenty of tools at your disposal anyway.”

X wants to scream.

“It’s just sex for sex’s sake!” X yells before this madness can go any further. “So reploids and humans can have one more thing to share to promote understanding and closer bonds between both races. Because the act of having sex is vulnerable and pleasure –“ X remembers his failed one-night stand and quickly amends, “Supposed to be pleasurable. Most human societies have traditionally placed it as one of the highest forms of love and intimacy throughout their history and culture. It’s a major component in romantic relationships. I can’t believe you think that I’m making a weapon. Me!”

Zero looks at X as if the blue android lost his screws.

“If it’s not for camouflage,” Zero starts in a low voice. “Then why were you pretending to be someone else last night? What were you trying to achieve if not to test how well you can pass as a human?”

“I wanted to test the function!” X says, frustration building all over again. “I needed to have a field test with a stranger to see if I successfully created a proper equivalent for reploids.”

Eyes sharpening into blue knives, the warbot retaliates, “If you’re testing it with a stranger then you’re not utilizing it for its intended purpose of solidifying a bond with a loved one.”

Zero got him there.

“Okay, fine. There are exceptions," the blue android reluctantly concedes. "That was one of them. But I had to see if the pseudo-genitalia I’ve designed would work with a partner and I didn’t want a scandal to come out. Since there’s no other robot that has the capacity besides me, my choice was to perform with a human. One who doesn't know me even though it means I don't know them in return.”

To X it seems completely logical. The way Zero is growing more agitated shows that the warbot does not share X’s opinion.

“Then do an install on a reploid!” Zero counters. He points at the pseudo-penis in X’s hand. “That’s ready to be used, isn’t it? You could have your test within a controlled environment without going through the idiocy that happened at the hotel! All of the trouble that happened afterwards could have been so easily averted! Negotiating a maverick without armor - hah!” he spits disdainfully. “Are you smelting kidding me?”

The Crimson Hunter steps closer to X suddenly, his height allowing him to loom over the shorter android. “If you’re that concerned about the press, then do it with someone you know who wouldn’t sell you out. Rust, do it with _me_ if you have to!”

For the second time during this conversation, X is at a loss for words again.

“With you?” X manages weakly, his previous heat being replaced by a very different kind of heat.

“You heard me.” Zero glares, voice unwavering and eyes alight with a new directive. “Do the install and have sex with me, X.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Cackles forever)  
> But seriously guys, thanks for the feedback so far, they’ve been fueling my speed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (sigh) I hate this fic. I really do. It's growing out of control so now this bitch has an epilogue. Because you assholes are too nice to me, giving me awesome comments despite my dumb humor, and completely unplanned character studies and world building. Goddamn.  
> Some of the readers have commented that they don’t tend to follow mature/explicit fics, which, by the way, thank you so much. I am humbled and flattered that my story managed to catch your attention. But there is a reason that this fic has a mature rating and it rears its head here. You have been warned.

Before Sigma’s Rebellion, it was common for senior Hunters to regale rumors about the Unit Leaders to new recruits as a way to bond. No one was sure if they were true or not as tend to be with the nature of gossip, especially how varying they can be between storytellers. But no one can say they weren’t interesting.

Some of the most heated discussions included the origin of Chill Penguin and Flame Mammoth’s belligerent rivalry (the most popular theory was that it was born from an embarrassing basketball game) and who among Storm Eagle’s company that the Unit Leader was in a secret relationship with (the most scandalous speculation was that the Prince of the Skies was dating _all_ of them).

But the rumor of how Zero became the second generation, Seventeenth Unit Leader stayed the most popular and consistent.

It was said that after Sigma knocked him out, by the time the Red Ripper was brought into Hunter Base Medical, Zero’s self-repair left him immaculate before any scientist could open him. A laser fiber didn’t come a centimeter close when Zero woke up, the enigmatic warbot breaking out of the operating table and reconstructing the room into a tiny fortress, holding a surgeon hostage in exchange for answers. Commander Sigma, recognizing that Zero had amnesia and plenty of potential, inducted him into the Hunters right then and there, eager to carve out an effective Hunter out of a blank slate.

When X asked Zero later if the story was true, the taller android shrugged, nonchalantly admitting that he barely remembered anything from that time.

X, now lightly skimming through Zero’s medical record, sees that there is a degree of truth to the tale. Every medical file including X’s has at least a few pages that goes into detail to a robot’s inner build, taken at the first physical check-up to prevent delays during future operations.

Zero’s file is sparse. Asides from the warbot’s combat specs, weight, height, preferred pronouns, and a few jotted down notes taken during shallow examinations, the record reveals nothing about his internal construction.

Which implies that not once had Zero ever been opened up and studied. Considering the Crimson Hunter’s incredible battle finesse, Zero has never needed to step foot into the hybrid operating room either, continuously robbing anyone the opportunity.

Until now.

Not that X is going that far depending what Zero chooses. X does respect Zero’s boundaries after all.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” X asks again to the warbot sitting ramrod straight on the operating table.

“Let’s just get it over with,” Zero mutters.

“First you have to tell me which one you prefer,” X says holding up the bionic penis (a contraption hidden within an expandable shape) on one hand and the artificial vagina (a seemingly tangle of wires to an inflatable, hollowed cylinder) in the other. “Because of my Variable Tool System, I can adapt to whichever you pick. One thing to note is that I don’t know how you were designed and the female pseudo-genitalia may or may not fit depending on your skeleton. But from what I can see, you’re fairly light for someone of your built. You were probably made with the most efficient, compact materials.”

X walks around the table, scrutinizing Zero’s abdomen, face pensive. “If you want to have both, it can probably be done.”

It doesn’t escape X’s notice that the longer he talks, the more the Crimson Hunter’s eyes are glancing towards the door. A small part of X wants Zero to give up just to stop seeing his friend pushing himself out of his comfort zone. But a much larger part is eager to conduct the world’s first pseudo-genitalia operation on another robot.

X is going to learn _so_ much.   

Instead of verbally stating a tactical retreat, Zero inquires,” Which one will tamper with my systems the least? Explain the procedure.”

“The pseudo-penis. It’ll require weaving the tactile sensory web with your pseudo-muscles. The mod also incorporates some of your original construction so it can appear seamless and proportionate to your build. Since you’re broader than the average reploid, I’m going to add in some extra materials to make up the gap.”

 _It’ll also be convenient since I don’t need to reconfigure my current settings_ , X thinks idly, remembering his incomplete attempt with Lane. After all of his research, he assumed getting intercourse would be easy and here he is now, going so far to literally create the opportunity.

“It’s not going to stick out like a human’s, right?” Zero asks, nose wrinkling at the thought.

“Not at all. It’ll reside within your body unless you manually activate it.”

“Alright. How deep is it going to be?”

“Everything I just said will stay restricted to the surface layer.

“The surface layer? That’s not too bad.”

X pauses. “There is one more thing...”

The warbot huffs. “Go on.”

The blue android makes a few vague gestures. “The muscle is wired to the pleasure center of your stimulation node. If it’s not hooked on, you’re going to feel all the sensitivity but not much else. If your systems can’t make that change, it’ll require surgery to align a circuit into your processor.”

“Rust me,” Zero grumbles to the side.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Again, I can just find someone else – “

“In case my systems won’t allow me to override my presets,” Zero interrupts sharply, “would association work?”

X halts, recalling every innuendo that went through his mind in his recent interactions with Zero. Each one of those times X felt guilty to look at Zero in that light because it seemed objectifying in the way pornography does to an individual.

Even now the prospect of having sex with Zero, his best friend who X loves dearly and trusts with his life…it feels like X is using him. Which is the point according to Zero, but still.

Still.

Forcing himself to adopt a more clinical mindset, X answers,” It can, but I have to warn you that you might make inappropriate connections. You’ll have to be careful with what associations you’ll utilize with the equipment.”     

Nodding, the warbot sweeps his blond hair to the side, the sheer length of it draping over the edge of the table like a shiny waterfall before he lays down flat.

“I accept the mod as long as you don’t go beyond my pelvic region,” Zero declares in a grim voice that likens to signing up a mercenary contract. “No major surgery. Install only.”

“I can do that,” X confirms as he approaches closer. He tentatively lays a hand on Zero’s belly, feeling the tension beneath the grey skin under that upper, red chassis. X’s fingers trail gently downwards until it rests on the edge of Zero’s white pelvic plating.

“You need to take this off before I can do anything.”

The warbot twitches. A bit chagrined he says, “I can’t.”

X’s head snap back upwards. “What do you mean you can’t?” X is about to say but he clamps up at Zero’s face. It’s the familiar faraway look all robots have whenever they they’re manually combing through their own CPU. Reluctantly, the Crimson Hunter admits,” My armor is more of a powered exoskeleton without any input sensors. Is it important that I have to feel anything during your experiment?”

Every other combatdroid X has come across can dismantle and disarm. It’s a common failsafe feature lest there’s any errors during their activation, kept afterwards so the combatdroid can integrate into normal society anytime they like. For Zero to not even know if he can take it off…

_He was built to never stop fighting._

“Yes it is. So may I dismantle it then?” X asks trying to sound as innocently as possible. “I can even readapt it for easy equip and de-equip. It’ll help with my test later if you allow me...”  

Honestly the field test for reploid intercourse can eat acid. X wants to modify that accursed armor.

“Only to my pelvic region,” Zero repeats sternly. “And you better not add any chinks to it.”

“Of course,” X replies, already mentally mapping out two operations.

Door locked, curtains drawn, and Zero waiting, X turns on the operating theatre’s armamentaria and begins.

* * *

 

“Zero, how do you feel? Do you feel any discomfort?”

“X, you just added a whole new _system_ to me. Discomfort is an understatement.”

“I’ve designed it so reploids shouldn’t be burdened by the equipment when they’re not using it. If you think it can affect your regular routine, then I have to take it out.”

“Let me test my mobility…alright, it’s practically unnoticeable. Couple minutes later and I should get used to it being there.”

“And the armor?”

“Not loose. What are these hinges? Tungsten carbide? Whatever it is, it’s sturdy. Not bad, X.”

“I’m glad. Can you run a diagnostics check and tell me how it goes, please?”

“Everything green.”

”Excellent! We’re going back to my room so if you feel anything strange on our way there, tell me.”

“All the way back to your room? Can’t we just do it right here and now? I’m fine so let’s get your data and be done with this already.”

“Zero, the last time I was in this room I got interrupted by another Hunter. I refuse to take that risk.”

“Someone walked in on you?”

“Yes. In fact, while working on this mod I’ve been interrupted three times. The first time was when I made the penis and Command Center contacted me right before climax. The second time was when I made the vagina in this room and masturbated incorrectly. The third time was at the Violette right before I could have gotten _penetrated_. So Zero if you’re going to volunteer to help me, we are doing this in my room where no random passerby can interrupt me again.”

“…What if there’s a maverick attack?”

“We’re not the only high ranking Hunters here anymore. Unless maverickism suddenly becomes a mass epidemic or Sigma has come back from the dead, I’m sure that there’s plenty of other Hunters who can handle the job. Now let’s _go._ ” 

* * *

 

The reality of the situation doesn’t dawn to X until Zero strides to the center of the Elite Unit Leader’s room and systematically dismantles his pelvic armor, placing them onto the clearer spot on X’s desk like the warbot owns it.

Whatever scientific detachment X had up to this point vanishes at the familiarity of his best friend hanging out in his personal quarters. Sometimes Zero would come here between missions, usually sharing a comfortable silence with the Azure Hunter or spend hours talking to relieve the dullness of doing paperwork. Sometimes X would introduce new things to the warbot, hoping that Zero can find an interest in something outside of work (so far the Blue Bomber has been fairly successful with music).

But now they’re going to use X’s room to have intercourse. X finds that he is ready and not ready at all.

“I have no experience in this field,” Zero say, bringing X back to attention. The red warbot is frowning, bothered by his own ignorance. “You’re going to have to walk me through this.”

Face reddening that he spaced off again, X quietly says, “First let me take my armor off.”

Before X’s hands reach up to take off his helmet, Zero approaches closer to lay a hand on top of it, stopping the other robot.

“You just need to take off your lower armor, don’t you? You can keep everything else on. What if Command Center does call on you?”

“I still have my communications network on,” X counters. “The helmet just provides more power and range. Also, humans tend to be completely bare when they have sex. I’m trying to do the same thing.”

“But you’re not human and you’re not having sex with a human. You’re having sex with me.”

Zero’s matter-of-fact way of speaking should be making this easier, not harder.

“I’ll keep the helmet on,” X acquiesces. “But I’m taking everything else off. This is just my preference. You don’t need to be as exposed as I am.” Not that Zero can unfortunately. Maybe one day he can convince the warbot to have the rest of his armor modified.

X tells his body to release his armor and the invisible junctions politely click open, easily allowing the android to take them apart piece by piece into a neat pile on the floor. To X’s small amusement, it’s Zero who seems to be more affected by this. The combatdroid is always disconcerted at any perceived vulnerability that’s not from his enemies.

It probably doesn’t help that X’s body appears remarkably similar to a naked, squishy human right now, a leftover from yesterday’s events.

With that thought, X turns off his customized “human” settings and his Variable Tool System transforms his body back to its default. His body from the neck below is back to his natural blues and dark mechanical grays. His construction plates are no longer so tightly meshed together, pseudo-muscles less spread out to reveal his metal joints and sophisticated circuitry lining. His outer appearance now matches his robotic nature.

Zero’s expression seems more pinched than before. Well, X doesn’t know what else to do then. The Azure Hunter walks towards the other robot until he’s right in front of the warbot.

“Anytime you want to stop, you can tell me,” X emphasizes as he raises a hand to the taller android’s face. He gently nudges Zero’s chin, forcing those blue eyes to look into X’s. The Blue Bomber needs his friend to see how serious he is about this. “Sex is incredibly intimate and it involves so much touching. I need your consent no matter how deep we go into this. Do you understand me?”

Zero looks like he’d be rolling his eyes if he didn’t find that to be an unnecessary gesture. “Stop worrying, X. If I want to stop, I’ll just grab my armor and walk out."

Knowing Zero, he'd actually do it. The Zeroth Unit Leader would never do anything he doesn't want to do unless there's a substantial reason for it. The warbot has no idea how relieved he made X feel with that statement.

Impatient, the Zeroth Unit Leader grabs the shorter android’s waist. "Now come  _on_.”

X squawks, reflexively raising a hand on Zero’s chest. ”Wait! They need to be activated, remember!”

Zero frowns, hiding his bewilderment. 

“Intercourse done dry is painful,“ X explains hurriedly. “I need to get the lubricant going. Hold on a minute.”

X looks down and away from Zero, slipping his other hand down between his thighs.

He’s done this plenty of times by himself and he knows what he has to do yet his fingers are weak inside, shy now that he’s aware of his vigilant audience watching him. The Blue Bomber exvents, forcing himself to spread his fingers further, thumb twirling around the outer area to relax.

X bites the inside of his cheek, calculating how wide he has to be for – for Zero to fit inside him. For some reason, feeling the rhythmic thrumming of Zero’s life underneath his other hand draws all his thoughts towards it. 

 _Stop being so self-conscious and focus!_ X silently curses to himself and his trembling hand.

“You couldn’t have just made a button?” Zero asks above him.

X barks a surprised laugh at the pure question, simultaneously tensing and relaxing his body. “That would be too easy. Can you imagine reploids dripping fluids if they were pressed the wrong way in public?”

“It’ll be more efficient than what you’re doing. You’re shaking too much.”

Zero’s flippancy brings a stronger wave of embarrassment over the blue android, who clenches his jaw, slightly irritated. The warbot doesn’t know anything and X can’t blame him – _no other robot besides X knows what’s going on -_ but it’s still rude.  

“Zero, please be quiet,” X says with the gathered patience of a saint. “You’re not helping.”

A second later one of Zero’s hands on X’s hip dips downwards until it meets with X’s between the blue android’s legs.

X freezes.

“Do you want me to help then? You don’t seem stable,” Zero observes out loud as if he’s studying a buster barrel, his hand on top of X’s knuckles. “Let me try.”

 _It’s not proper intercourse if it’s one-sided_ , X reminds himself despite his apprehension.

“Okay,” X accepts before he can change his mind. In a more authoritative voice, he says, “Be gentle, please. Rub the outside to stimulate the area then enter with one finger. Add one then two more when there’s enough lubricant. I’ll alert you if you’re doing anything wrong.”

 _Huh, I should write a sex tutorial manual for reploids. Add it to the genitalia custom job like a package deal,_ X considers as Zero nods seriously as if he’s taking on a mission. _It’ll lower the risk of accidental damage._

It hasn’t been five minutes into this and X is already having good ideas thanks to Zero. This _is_ smart.

X removes his hand to let Zero get to work. As per instructed, the combatdroid makes a light circular motion over X’s swelling entrance, occasionally brushing against the clitoris. X twitches, causing Zero’s eyes to snap up to the blue android’s face.

“You’re fine,” X reassures, getting slightly warm. “Keep it slow at the front. It’s very sensitive.”

A bit more confident, the warbot continues at the same calm pace until X can feel the telling dampness. Zero tilts his head, curious. Then he slides one finger in smoothly, experimentally pressing against X’s inner walls, exploring. He’s boldly delving further in than X did and X gasps when Zero brushes against a clump of faux-nerves, automatically clutching onto the other’s shoulders.

“X?” Zero asks warily.

“I’m fine.” He’s not, he’s definitely not. Zero is just doing what X told him to do and it already feels different, which makes no sense because in the end they’re just fingers. Excited, X encourages, “Keep going.”

“Stop me if I hurt you,” the Zeroth Unit Leader orders, belying sincerity and X hides a laugh. Their positions have switched from earlier. Then Zero resumes.

Before X realizes it he’s rocking back against Zero’s plying fingers, guiding and deliberately pushing them deeper inside of him. When Zero adds another finger, playing them around, X’s breathing grows harder as his ventilation system demands more air. These tiny star-like bursts inside of him are new, this climbing rush slowly spreading from below to his head. It doesn’t make sense, he - oh rust - he _designed_ this. He studied every single part of it, conducted so many solo tests and the part of X’s mind that’s still functioning is wondering why he feels so much, why this blows the short time he had at the Violette out of the water.

“You’re…wet. Does that mean you’re ready now?”

X’s eyes crack open at Zero’s voice – when did he close his eyes? - the blue android glancing up to see the Crimson Hunter staring at him, bright and unsure. He paints such an endearing image that X can’t help himself.

X wraps his arms around the taller android’s neck and hair, smiles at Zero’s stilted reaction as the blue android buries his hands into those elegant, golden long sensors, knowing that he’s filling up Zero’s proximity alerts with his own presence – something about that so wonderful to him. Nuzzling into the crook of the warbot’s neck, X presses his body closer and traps Zero’s arm between them, Zero’s perplexed expression feeding X’s delight.

“X, you’re acting strange,” Zero says, stock stiff. The warbot’s face is carefully blank save for those eyes, revealing that he’s so, so lost.

X laughs again.

“I feel so good,” X says almost dreamily, all previous modesty drifting away like clouds at this pleasant development. “I’ve masturbated so many times and this feels so much better than all of that.”

“Really.” Zero sounds unconvinced and slightly unimpressed. “It takes that little?”

The blue android hums thoughtfully. “It shouldn’t. I’ve had oral done to me and it wasn’t as great. Maybe it’s because we’re friends it’s more enjoyable?” Could it be that robots, more so than humans, are that dependent on the psychological aspect of sex? “Let me try.”

X snakes a knee upwards between Zero’s legs, delicately rubbing against Zero’s pelvic plating in silent permission. The imbalance causes the combatdroid to plant a foot backwards before the two Hunters stumble to the ground. Zero’s hand slips out, and X makes a small displeased noise at the sudden emptiness, but he’s more focused on the other to say anything about it.

When he feels Zero’s lower body responding back, X sneaks a hand downwards, blindly reaching for Zero’s released member to tease it more from its casing. Zero twists his face away from X’s attention, his lips a small, tight line.

X stops. “Are you okay, Zero? Please tell me what you’re feeling.”

“It’s…strange,” the blond warbot manages, expression between frowning and confusion. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.

X nods, understanding that the Crimson Hunter is processing brand new sensory data. If Zero hasn’t gone into forced recharge or an overload yet, that means X has collaborated the sensitivity levels just right. It’s a positive sign.  

“But it doesn’t feel bad?” X inquires as he gives Zero a slow, long caress, summoning a soft gasp from the warbot. He leans in close, inquisitively peering up to the warbot’s face below the other’s chin. “Does it feel good?”

When Zero doesn’t immediately answer, X deflates, a touched exasperated. “You’re here to help my research, remember?” X points out. “Please be honest with me.”

Zero finally offers a jerky half-nod, a short stuttering movement, and X smiles, relieved. Not only is everything checking out so far, he can keep going.

Cautiously X strokes Zero’s shaft a little harder, never looking away from Zero, greedy for every subtle reaction. X watches that dark throat roll, smothering itself from any noise. Feeling a bit mischievous, the blue android noses against it, nipping along the side down to the opening of Zero’s upper armor. The warbot draws a sharp breath under him, and when X thumbs over the tip to motivate more lubricant to flow, Zero openly moans.

X blinks. He never heard the Crimson Hunter make that sound before.

The warbot clamps a hand over his own mouth, stunned at himself. It’s a first for Zero too it seems.

“I think you’re ready,” X decides, extremely pleased.

X goes on his tippy toes to press down the taller android’s shoulders, wordlessly demanding Zero to go down until the Crimson Hunter is sprawled across the floor, his hair a golden halo around him. The Azure Hunter climbs on top of other’s thighs, taking a moment to appreciate how well Zero’s body has adopted the new modification. It twitches under X’s physical attention, warm and receptive and stiff. The warbot in question is quietly watching X to make his move.

“I’m going to take you now,” X announces, gently gripping the muscle and lining himself to it, rubbing it against his entrance.

Carefully he bends down, one hand on Zero’s abdomen to stay stable while he commands his Variable Tool System to widen his channel. After the operation, Zero is a bit larger than X expected, which is fine. He just has to take it slow.

Focusing on the area where they meet, X watches in rapt fascination as the dark length disappears centimeter by centimeter inside him, his canal accommodating around the width. X always used whatever was smaller or of equal size during his tests to minimize risk of damage and this - this is so much bigger than anything he had before

X shudders, already feeling so stretched out and Zero isn’t even fully inside of him.

“X, is it supposed to feel this tight?” the warbot grits out below him, straining.

So it’s not just X then.

“G-Give me a moment. I need to adjust.”

The blue android closes his eyes in concentration, adapting his systems. He shifts the cables lying right beyond his inner walls, which brings both androids to gasp – Zero, because of the vibration, and X, because of the heightened sensitivity now that his shock absorbers are pushed even further away. X feels than hears Zero laboring beneath him, the faint rumbling running more friction into the Blue Bomber. It’s still quite tight, but at least X can feel a bit more flexibility than before.  

“How is it now?” X asks, forcing his voice to be clear.  

“Better,” Zero breathes, eyes closing.

“Then I’m going to move now.”

X begins with a shallow, steady rhythm, sliding up and down slowly, trying not to get carried away at the small waves of pleasure every time Zero’s member rubs against his contact points. Instead he mentally goes down his checklist for intercourse, monitoring his fluid reserves (two fifths used), Zero’s shape inside of him (slightly curved, pliable but sturdy, the design has stayed successfully intact), and his own body (positioning of the vagina channel satisfactory, no other component has been dented so far).  

But the more he continues, the more it’s getting increasingly difficult to maintain a professional mindset. His knees are starting to wobble from the effort and this glacial speed is becoming torturous, building X up to an unsatisfying plateau. It’s a dangling tease that this could be more (deeper, faster, _harder,_ something to push his limits, something to make this a _real_ test) but X restrains himself. He’s doing this for research.

Except X notices that his volunteer is being awfully quiet. X looks down.

The warbot’s body is a long, tense block, hips occasionally stuttering forward – _not away_ , X notes importantly – whenever the blue android moves. Save for the low droning of his systems, Zero seems determined to be a statue. His head is averted to the side, one hand shielding his expression so X can’t read it, the other clutching desperately over his own mouth, preventing any sound to escape. X stops short when he sees something dark red blossoming on the back Zero’s white hand. The warbot’s teeth is worrying on it so hard that he’s breaking surface.

_Oh rust me._

Overcome with concern, X stays in place and bends forward to grab Zero’s wrist away from the combatdroid’s mouth. “Zero, doesn’t this feel good?” X asks a little desperately. When Zero gives another tiny nod, the blue android insists, “Please don’t hold back on me. I need to know that I’m not hurting you.”

“I’m -“ Zero clamps up again, face twisting as if it’s agonizing to talk. When he speaks again, he sounds so small and ashamed like he’s confessing a sin. ”You _can’t_ tell me that. This…this is dangerous.”

X’s worry gets replaced by confusion. “Dangerous? What do you mean?”

“It feels...good. But I’m not supposed to feel this. And it exposes us too much.”

Zero averts his face away again, distressed. “You need to hurry up.”

X pauses.

Zero has been militantly holding back as much as he can, but what if it’s totally not out of embarrassment or inexperience? Not out of some inflated pride to maintain his stoic Hunter visage?

What if it’s programming?

 _Think from his perspective!_ The roboticist in X orders viciously.

Zero is fundamentally a combat based robot but this isn’t a battlefield - it’s the _exact_ opposite and so Zero’s completely out of his depth. First response would be to regain advantage, but what advantage? His protocols are conflicting! So his default is to restrain himself – hell, his blasted armor was created to never come off of him! A physical, seemingly permanent embodiment to expect pain and struggle. Doesn’t that mean Zero was never meant to experience intimacy?

_I want you to let go._

The thought comes to X unbidden, powerful and all-consuming. X tightens his muscles and _grinds_ in place, his inner walls hugging Zero, causing the warbot to jump at the sudden movement. Determined, X takes the warbot’s other hand, exposing Zero’s face to him. The careful, scientific mentality that X has been fiercely clinging to stutters away. 

With both wrists in X’s hands, Zero can’t hide himself away from the Azure Hunter on top of him. Zero looks like he’s barely hanging on, eyes wide like twin pools of deep, blue water. His lips are parted, voice restrained to tiny, uncontrolled gasps, blond hair a wild mess beneath him.

He’s downright circuit-frying erotic. X can’t look away.

“X?” Zero asks almost like a child.

His name is a small, breathy thing and something about Zero trying to sound neutral and utterly failing has X _burning_. It’s as if a molten torrent has rushed into his head and before he knows it, X is moving, rising up and slamming down just as quickly, a motion so rough that startles X to cry out – Zero is _deeper_ now - but he can’t regret it, not when his body is catching up to the heat in his core.

“X, what are you – “ Zero strangles out, choking when X keeps coming down again and again and again. Zero’s hands, trapped in X’s, are pulling away - Zero is instinctively trying to hide _again,_ and _smelt that_. X forcibly tugs them onto his own body, the blue android relishing the dumbstruck look that comes over the warbot as he brings those hands, so used to wielding violence, to his nape (so Zero can feel his reverberating moans), gliding them down to his chest (so Zero can feel his core drumming).

“It’s just me, Zero,” X says almost pleadingly. “It’s just the two of us here.”

_You don’t need to put your guard up with me._

“I want you to feel good with me.”

_Your pleasure is safe with me._

“X, you don’t understand!” Zero tries again, red helmet clacking backwards when X twists in place, massaging the muscle inside him. Zero tosses his head side to side, stray strands of blond hair falling over his features. “I shouldn’t - !“

The Blue Bomber surges forward, impulsively pressing his lips onto Zero’s, no longer tolerating the warbot’s stubborn protests. He swallows the tiny noise from the warbot and – oh rust, kissing feels amazing when he’s doing this for himself and not out of situational pressure, when he can completely focus on the way Zero is slowly giving into him, the way the warbot’s breaths are getting harsher and harsher.

“Please Zero, I _need_ you,” X whispers into Zero’s mouth. When Zero shakes his head vigorously, X whines, frustrated, his processor working overdrive to think of the right things to say, the right things to do to make his best friend to rusting give _in_ already. Something to drive a point home that Zero isn’t going to be punished for feeling. 

How the smelt do you make a combat based robot feel at ease with vulnerability?

Something clicks in X’s mind. The answer is so obvious that X can’t believe he didn’t think of it earlier.

The blue android settles down to a gradual halt, giving both androids a temporary respite. X squeezes Zero’s hands, insistently dragging them to his waist, the most vulnerable part of X with or without his armor.

“Don’t hold back. Please Zero,” X begs, forcing his voice to sound as needy as he feels inside. It feels shameful to act shameless, for the Elite Unit Leader to be so openly submissive but X shoulders on. The desperate desire for Zero to share this with X now occupies top priority. “Take control of me. Do whatever you want with me. Right now I…” X swallows, anxious. “I belong to you.”

The warbot’s brows shoot so high they’ve hidden beneath the V of his horned, crimson helmet, eyes wide at the brazen permission. Mouth slack in shock, Zero grows so still that he could have been chiseled from stone. X worries if he has gone too far this time, that he accidentally broke a subroutine or two until the Azure Hunter registers something low and rumbling.

It’s a dark, foreign sound that’s almost below X’s normal range of hearing, steadily climbing higher and higher until the blue android recognizes that it’s an honest to god _growl_. And it’s coming from Zero.

The warbot snarling is the last warning X gets before the Blue Bomber finds his back slamming on the floor.  

* * *

 

X is an idiot. How many times did Zero tell the other android to not push the warbot? Did he think Zero was joking? That Zero was restraining himself for no reason?

Either way it’s too late. X told Zero that he’s _his_ and that’s basically surrender.

So it’s one hundred percent X’s fault that Zero is gripping those hips, fingers digging deeply enough to nearly dent, and plunges in, this time so much deeper and more satisfying than X’s careful, frustratingly teasing riding.

“Zero!” X yelps beneath him, alarmed at the sudden escalation but Zero pays him no mind, keeps pushing in further and further until X is taking him to the very _root_ so that there isn’t a single crevice inside X that isn’t filled by the warbot. Zero breathes out a small moan - X is so wet and molten, a velvety, vice like squeeze around him, an absolute perfect fit for him.

“O-Oh,” X murmurs dazedly in dull shock, vivid green eyes all centered at where he’s physically connected to Zero. His face is flushed in that delicious red and his slender thighs tremble around Zero’s form. “You’re all in…”

X can still think. That has to be rectified.

Gripping X’s waist again, Zero draws out and slams back in, unhesitatingly pounding into that foolishly exposed, mid-range based combat build - X’s weapon copy system, armor, and buster, all his strongest assets, what makes him Mega Man X - and they’re nearly all off of him while Zero still has most of his weaponry on him. It’s like X is practically _inviting_  Zero to kill him.

X trusts Zero so much sometimes it hurts.

The warbot is hitting towards the very back where he can feel the minuscule curves of clumped up sensory tactile centers and faux nerves. X screams bleed into helpless moaning as Zero sets a consistently brutal pace, the Blue Bomber’s back arching so high that his metallic spine creaks, hands on Zero’s shoulders, as if bracing himself.

“Zero, t-too much!” X shouts between sobs and did he seriously expect that to slow Zero down, when X deserves to be punished? If anything, it’s downright _encouraging_. Zero grunts, hooking underneath the other’s knees to lift them up until Zero is nearly folding X in half.

The blue android splutters, half-heartedly protesting at the humiliating angle. Like this, the warbot’s blond hair drapes around the smaller android like a golden cage, almost as if he’s trapping X beneath him. Zero makes another harsh thrust and X whimpers, gradually losing coherency as Zero relentlessly drives into him again and again and _again._

 _This can't possibly be normal_ , Zero thinks through the red-hazed frenzy fogging his mind, dizzily drowning in this overwhelming pleasure.  _If sex feels like this, how can anyone ever stop?_  

X is convulsing, bare chest rising up and down at a concerning speed as if he can’t cool his systems fast enough. The unreasonable, territorial side in Zero roars, finding it completely unforgivable for X to share his air so promiscuously like that, when Zero _owns_ X’s everything. The Crimson Hunter bends down to capture X’s lips, shoving his tongue inside to hungrily drink in the other’s mewls, overpowering and conquering every corner in that meltingly hot mouth. Zero finds human physical affections lacking but he can see the appeal in this one, the idea of devouring someone whole until they’re an intrinsic part of you, never to separate again.

When he feels X’s body burning up to a dangerous degree, Zero reluctantly parts away, distantly acknowledging that improper ventilation can cause overheating. He’s rewarded with X mindlessly chasing after the warbot’s mouth, whining for more contact, more touch.

What a brilliant idea. The combatdroid wraps his arms around X and lifts the smaller robot up. Reflexively, X clutches around Zero’s neck tightly for stability, hands buried in Zero’s hair as his lithe legs lock around the warbot’s form. When X is full bodily pressed against the combatdroid, Zero stands up, groaning as X tightens in panic, his entrance clenching almost painfully around Zero’s aching muscle as if to suck it in and never let go.

“Zero, w-what are you doing?” X cries out nervously.

 _Taking you further apart,_ Zero doesn’t say, simply languidly thrusting into the squirming blue android, every movement coaxing a soft, confused cry, as the warbot walks to the nearest wall to set X against. With his larger body acting like a barrier between X and the rest of the world, Zero looms over the Blue Bomber, pausing to let his elevated targeting system to visually consume his partner.

X’s eyes are glazed over, an emerald, watery haze beneath his blue helmet, tear ducts activated long ago out of extreme sensory input. His systems are heaving in effort and his twitching entrance is absolutely drenched around Zero’s throbbing member, little trails of shared, gleaming lubricant sliding down thanks to gravity. For a moment Zero feels a split strand of doubt at X’s seemingly exhausted form until X bucks invitingly back against him, causing the warbot to hiss.

“Don’t stop,” X pleads, absolutely wanton, hips canting enticingly. He sounds like a drunk human, voice synthesizer hoarse from overtaxing. “Give me everything you got, I can take it. Please.“

Zero curses. X is going to be the death of him.

The warbot must have accidentally said that out loud (which should disturb him, the fact his control over his verbal functions have deteriorated this far) because X laughs, a fay sound. “That’ll make two of us. I don’t mind dying like this, Zero,” he says cheekily.

The combatdroid shivers as a hot coiling streak of arousal shoots through him again. Is X deliberately pushing all of his rusting buttons today? Well two can play that game.

Zero releases a low, revving vibration, startling the blue android’s out of his sex induced trance to yell,” Combat mode? Why are you entering _combat mode?“_

With a punctuating lurch of his hips, Zero cuts X off, the Blue Bomber effectively shutting up. If Zero was rough before, now he’s outright _ruthless_ , accelerating to a tempo so fast that X can’t possibly keep up, not when Zero is centering all of his warbot speed and power onto the Azure Hunter. Zero’s senses are heightened, his tactical eagerly providing that X screams louder if he pounds right into _that_ angle, right where X’s pleasure circuit line is the most connected. Every part of his processor is obsessively studying X from the inside out to search for every weakness to use to shut X's processor down.

Confined to the wall like this, the Blue Bomber has no room to escape, hands digging into Zero’s shoulders, just barely hanging onto the other’s frame as he’s forced to receive every punishing thrust. X can’t do anything but sob and squirm from the combatdroid’s hands that are trailing up to the raw, exposed circuitry lining on the smaller android’s sides, jamming down on them bordering painful until Zero can feel sparks crackling back to him. The smaller android surges, caught in between desiring more pressure or fleeing from the all-consuming input. X's writhing creates more gratifying friction across Zero's shaft, each pressed tactile sensor transmitting more bursts of pleasure. 

Any other time Zero would be balking at himself at the way he’s treating X like a plaything, a trembling metal doll molded all for pleasure. Except X still has his famous helmet on at Zero’s earlier command. Anytime X can comm the warbot to stop when he can’t use his voice, anytime he can flood Zero's radio with agonizing noise, anytime X can call someone else for help. But he hasn’t, which means X _wants_ this, he _wants_ Zero to drive him to the brink.  

The warbot fingers the edges of X’s body plates, probing into them until he’s nearly under X’s ‘skin.' Sobbing, the Azure Hunter thrashes wildly, unprepared to this intensity.

If Zero pulled instead of push, he can literally tear X apart, dig even deeper into the other’s cables until there’s nothing between Zero and X’s bare essence. The thought is so alluring and forbidden that Zero growls, spurring his fervor to drive X insane with sensation. 

Each white hot pulse is sending the combatdroid higher and higher, the edges of his forefront awareness blurring until his systems blare that the stimulation is becoming too much. His drive to sate this need is going to break him.

“X, I’m getting warnings,” Zero groans out. He needs to stop but instead his movements are growing more erratic and wild, his usual tightly-leashed control officially knocked blindside because he _can’t_ stop, not when X feels this impossibly good. Not when X wants this too with the way he bucks his rear back, mindlessly lavishing Zero with acid sweet praises and encouragements.

“M-me too,” X slurs, no sign of that previous researcher’s dignity. The Blue Bomber composure is completely gone. “Keep going - come with me, Zero.”

“X,” Zero moans out, rushing forward. He continues to chant the other’s name like a mantra between their mixed cries, a revealing madness shamelessly exposing a secret. Because even though Mega Man X has been reduced into this beautiful, moaning and overstimulated pile of mess beneath the warbot, Zero is more than aware that X is the one in power.

Because X has fundamentally  _ruined_ Zero. There’s no going back for him.

 _But that’s fine,_ Zero thinks before letting go. 

The power surges rise to a crescendo. Zero’s mind goes blank at the face of an exploding collapse of energy, his body shaking, ferociously voicing his release as he rides through the dispersing waves of back down to reality. The part of his processor that is somehow still functioning gleefully whispers that X is going through the same, the blue android wailing to an octave so high that his voice statics. His small frame is racked with spasms, back bowing and Zero suddenly feels a gush of fluids down his legs. Zero can’t hide the uncharacteristic, hitching laughter, wondering with no small delight if he had thoroughly fucked X so hard that he broke the other’s internal lubricant nozzle.

As the bursts of ecstasy fade down, the warbot slides down, no longer able to keep them both up against a vertical surface anymore. Both robots’ joints squeal in exertion as they shudderingly settle back down on the floor, X tensing one last time until his head lolls backwards, blue helmet softly hitting against the wall with a soft clack. Moving is too much work so they simply sit there, lapping out the final waves of pleasure.

“Zero,” X whispers tiredly as he blinks blearily, leaning forward to press a heartbreakingly feather-light kiss on Zero’s lips, a gesture so chaste it contrasts extremely from their earlier, arduous activity. Zero can see the drained android trying not to succumb into unconsciousness even though X is struggling through tremors around Zero's softening member, looking absolutely wrecked. The blue android is probably so overloaded with incredible stimulation input that his processor can barely handle it. Zero, on the other hand, isn’t going to bother.

X has brought Zero to his knees, literally and figuratively.

Perhaps it’s true that X will forever hold this over Zero. No one will ever be able to take X’s place in Zero’s associations and there’s nothing else in this universe that can ever fulfill Zero the way X can. Even right now Zero senses the approaching blackness creeping from the back of his mind, a sign that he’s going to enter emergency recharge mode.

A totally unprecedented feat, to sleep next to someone who’s still awake, no matter how exhausted the other may be. It is an ultimate weakness and it goes against all of Zero's instincts. 

 _But that’s fine,_ Zero thinks again, dark possessive contentment purring inside him. The warbot lazily nuzzles into X’s throat to lay a claiming bite onto that vulnerable flesh, relishing X’s weak gasp and the tingling pain of defensive self-repair nanites attacking the inside of his mouth. It only makes Zero bore down harder to take in more of X’s vibrant life.

_Because now, you’re mine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was /this/ close to make the sex scene a horribly embarrassing, realistic first time but after all the shit I put X through, I thought I'd give X a bone.  
> A boner.  
> (gets shot)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (cough) This story was supposed to be crack (cough, cough). Plot? Character studies? POV contrasts? The hell are they about?  
> Anyways final chapter and also my favorite because I can go into consequences and reactions. Probably the main damn reason I wrote this story.
> 
> 06/15/18 Edit: Not only did nerii aka Tealsalmon made the fanart from chapter 3, they also meme'd it! THE ZERO MEME IS NOW FULLY REALIZED. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!

If X didn’t wake up in Zero’s embrace on the floor, lying on the floor with the combatdroid’s helmet tucked under his chin, X wouldn’t have caught on so quickly that he powered down at all. He opens his eyes, cameras adjusting, and assesses his current situation.

After a quick system diagnostic, priorities set to alert him of any major changes and past logs that he didn't check, X becomes more aware of his own body. While he was sleeping, he actually used half a subtank to provide an extra boost to his self-repair nanites, which have focused mostly on providing comfort and ease to his stiff, overworked joints. The cause of the uncomfortable, stickiness he feels on his lower body is from his processor not regulating the lubricant flow upon overload, his subroutines more focused on other matters at the time. It’s surprising that not all of X’s fluid reserves were used. In fact, there’s a little over one fifteenth left.

The most shocking thing is the time. According to X’s chronometer, the android neither entered an emergency recharge for an hour, or clonked out outside of his recharge tube (which is sitting just right _there_ , literally less than a yard away from him and Zero) throughout the day.

He slept only a couple of hours.

Yet he feels refreshed. He double-checks and yup, all of his higher processing functions have not only returned, but they’re working at top capacity despite the appallingly improper sleep conditions. Now _that_ is an extremely interesting side-effect that X hasn’t expected at all. He’s going to have to conduct an in-depth review into this later, but for now can he find the cost?

Alright, so X finds that he did use some back-up energy but even that seems such a humble payment. Overall, just one and half subtank. The half is already accounted for (the nanites). The full one is for…

 _The energy and repair used while having intercourse with Zero_ , X realizes.

Processor blowing, core overdriving, passionate intercourse. X completely failed to maintain a clinical mindset. He utterly lost composure and lost track of half of the things he wanted to study. He has confident data from the beginning and right now for before-and-after comparisons, but midway onwards to the end he barely has anything. He screwed up. Rust, he literally _screwed_.

_It was incredible to watch Zero’s cool, stoic features morph into broken, pure pleasure. That laser blue, single targeted focus honing on X, all on tethering X to this physical reality with every delicious friction, a lovely heat too powerful to ignore, to maintain rationale._

_Zero stripped X’s entire world to just the two of them and it was amazingly freeing to not think of the rest of the universe and its never-ending pains, something X would normally be repelled by, to take a moment to not_ be _Mega Man. Zero was baring his everything to X, finally matching his wavelength, and X seized that rare marvel, desperately sending them both to a spiral full of this selfish indulgence of personal gratification. X couldn’t remember if he ever felt so alive._

X glitches, shivering at the memory.

Until now, the Blue Bomber’s processor was shyly avoiding to go in detail of what had happened. Maybe it’s his subroutine trying to defend him from the sky-shattering levels of embarrassment, infatuation, and desire crashing into him, setting every cable inside his build on fire.

Long time ago X read the Genesis when he was eagerly consuming as much human culture as he can, and now he can relate to it. The concept of experiencing a higher self-awareness because of a new knowledge.

 _I totally lost myself,_ X bemoans with no small amount of shame. _I threw half the test into the bolts, smelt me._  

“X, why are you warming up?” Zero’s voice grumbles below him. “We don’t need to be at Command Center right now.”

X nearly jumps at the voice, head snapping down to the river of sunlight hair shifting in place. With his constantly watchful eyes closed and face calm, the warbot looks so peaceful it clenches a wire or two in X.

“Were you sleeping, Zero?”

“I was until you moved.”

“I’m sorry. If you want to get a more rested sleep, you can use my recharge tube,” X offers graciously.

“I’m fully rested,” Zero replies simply, still not making any sign to move.

Then that’s strange. Zero is always so vigilant. X points out,” You always start on your Unit Leader duties earlier than you’re expected to if you’re physically capable for it.”

Zero lifts his shoulders shallowly, a relaxed substitute for a proper shrug. “Executing directives when possible is efficient and may prevent complications if future circumstances ever turn unfavorable.”

“So why the change in routine?”

The warbot sends a half-hearted glare at X. “Command Center has been bolts thanks to that stunt you pulled at the hotel. If I’m not required to go to work yet, I’m not going in there.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” X apologizes again, scolding at himself for nearly forgetting. By turning off his communications network and not going online, he’s been under a rock of what’s really going on. He’s going to have to check up on that mess sooner or later. 

“It’s fine,” the warbot answers. He burrows closer to the blue android’s form despite the earlier heat complaint, arm languidly around X’s waist. “I like this. A benefit in being put on reserve is that I don’t need to separate from you yet.”  

X doesn’t know which one stuns him more: that Zero is openly, verbally admitting something he likes or that he’s cuddling X.

“You’re getting warmer,” Zero says. This time the combatdroid twists his head place to gaze into X’s face, which the blue android is aware that it’s most likely in a shade matching the Crimson Hunter’s helmet.

The warbot’s eyes are a clear, pure blue. Bluntly, he asks, “Do you want to have sex again?”

Any other robot who’s not X would have flat out _crashed_ at the immediately responding and conflicting protocols, each one insistently demanding to be followed.

Physical diagnostic begrudgingly states that X’s lubricant reserves are low and he already ate up more than one subtank. It votes for breakfast. The greedy heat in X’s belly seductively quotes straight from a cheesy, online erotica that Zero would make _fantastic_ breakfast, and wouldn’t it be wonderful to have Zero curl over him, make him come apart again? It votes for a repeat session. Logos calls for attention to X’s Infinite Potential System, pointing out that X’s adaptability may have increased his appetite for further relationship fulfillment with Zero. It votes for introspection.

There’s another; less of a protocol and more of a voice that X has been persistently forbidding to label lest it becomes real (X has gotten plenty of practice for lying after all and omitting is even easier.).

The roboticist, however, chimes that Zero seems to be in a particularly honest mood right now. It votes to inquire the other android for participant insight and data to compensate the lack thereof.

X chooses that one as the winner.

“How was it actually?” X asks as neutrally as possible. “I didn’t ask about your condition as much as I should have during it.”  

_Because you were too busy screaming his name. Here’s a great question: why are you not doing that right now?_

That side of him is going to be a problem, the Blue Bomber thinks dully as he stomps down that train of thought and the smoldering pool in his chest. 

“It….” Zero pauses as he searches for the right vocabulary until he simply settles with, “I enjoyed it more than I expected. I initially considered having the install removed once you got what you needed, but I’ve changed my mind.”

X beams. “I’m so glad!” For the warbot to keep the mod - one the Father of All Reploids intended for intelligent robots to connect with humans better, to express a whole new array of affections for another individual – X is sincerely happy.

“But that wasn’t normal, was it?”

X blinks.

“What wasn’t normal?”

“The sex. That can’t be normal. I don’t know if what you felt was anything similar to what I experienced, but…” Zero trails off, frowning. Then he closes his eyes. “It probably was different. I didn’t fully route the mod to my pleasure node after all.”

It takes a second for the red warbot’s words to register.

Gawking, X pushes on his elbows to partially sits up, the movement invoking a displeased sound from the warbot.

“You mean you had sex with me with an _incomplete_ pleasure circuit?!”

The Azure Hunter’s memory is stunningly excellent and he definitely remembers the way Zero clung to him, the way Zero was reaping his physical satisfaction from X’s body. It’s not in the warbot’s nature to force anything artificial – all of that _must_ have been genuine.

“But you told me you felt good! You told me you had warnings for an overload!”  

“I did,” Zero confirms one brow raising. “But I only hooked twenty percent of the mod to the node. A complete line would put me in a disadvantage.”

“Twenty percent? Then what the rust was the other eighty percent?”

“Associations.”

_That…is plausible._

The blue android did muse that the psychological aspect of sex had to be critical for robots looking back at his previous experiences. Zero is further validating that theory.

“If you know what they are – and if you don’t mind me asking,” X adds in quickly, “can you tell me what you based your connections on?”

“You,” Zero responds without hesitation.

“Me,” X says slowly. “Okay. And?”

Zero frowns. “There’s no ‘and.’ Only you.”

The Blue Bomber statics.

He raises a hand over his mouth, spring green eyes scanning all over the other android. “Zero,” X says weakly, voice belying a whirlpool of mixed emotions. “I warned you had to be careful with what associations you make. How would you be able to enjoy sex with anyone else if you based so much on…”

Him. On X.

Whatever mellow calm that the warbot has disintegrates when Zero surges up until his eyes level with X’s. The combatdroid is wearing an expression that the Elite Unit Leader recognizes when the Red Ripper is delegating the majority of his processing to visually anatomize his target. No matter how many times Mega Man X has seen it, he can’t get used to it.

He doesn’t think he can nor he wants to.

“What are you talking about? There can’t be anyone else,” Zero growls. “I refuse to do it with anyone but you.”

Then the warbot’s eyes flash dangerously. “Are _you_ planning to have sex with other people?”

“I - well, I haven’t thought that far yet,” X sputters honestly. The thought of having sex with anyone isn’t appealing after sleeping with Zero, but how can X introduce the mod to the public if he hasn’t tested it with a large enough sample pool? He can’t in good conscience.

“Maybe I’ll have to,” the blue android says quietly, gazing away. “I wanted to make the mod so people, humans and reploids, can have more opportunities to be closer. For a reploid to have more options to bond with someone they love.” So having sex with only Zero can’t be enough.

Zero’s face darkens like the clouds before a storm. “If that’s the case, you’ve fulfilled your goal. You don’t need to conduct anymore tests.”

X looks back. “What do you mean?”

“Haven’t _we_ become closer?” Zero snaps with a frustration bordering to something desperate.

Before X can say anything, the warbot continues,” You told me that sex is vulnerable and now that I’ve experienced it myself, I completely agree. That degree of exposure is a _terrible_ idea. I can’t risk letting you have sex with anyone I don’t trust not to put a buster to your head, especially with your tendency to not wear your rusting armor.” The last part was said almost sardonically.

Zero slowly reaches for X’s arms, slack with shock and curiosity, and brings them over the red android’s shoulders, guiding them in between curtains of golden sensors to cross over around the back of his neck. The world’s most effective combat robot leans his head to the side to caress against one of X’s arms. “And if you seriously think that I’ll have sex with anyone else with a threat assessment, you’ve gone bolts, X.”

Which is reserved for anything that’s inanimate or dead, both of which X can conclude Zero won’t ever touch.

Numbly, Blue Bomber whispers, “But…your threat assessment of me is high.” Higher than anyone else to the Crimson Hunter. 

With how quiet the Elite Unit Leader’s quarters has become, it might as well have teleported to the far end of the galaxy. 

Then Zero smiles.

“You said you belong to me and you proved it,” Zero says in hushed fervor like he’s sharing a secret, eyes shining with a touch of mania at this impossible development. “My threat assessment of you is now zero. Because you’re mine.”

Oh.

That’s.

Wow.

It takes every kilobyte of X’s control to stop his tear ducts activating at the flood of emotions. Robots don’t necessarily require air, but this is probably what humans mean when their breath is taken away. X feels like he’s standing at the center of an endless expanse of grass under a clear sky and a supernova realized.

Because there’s nothing to parse in a warbot’s confession. It is what it is.

Does that mean X doesn’t need to monitor his own thoughts or feel guilty for seeing his best friend in that light? He doesn’t need to try to convince himself that he’s being affected by circumstances for every association he makes with Zero? He doesn’t need to forbid himself out of fear?  

 _You can still hurt each other,_ says the Azure Hunter.

 _You have a responsibility to carry,_ says the Father of all Reploids. 

_You can’t belong to one person if you belong to the world,_ says the Mega Man.

 _Is it truly that terrible,_ asks X, the youngest child of Dr. Light, _to let him be the most important person to me? To not just love, but be in love?_

Before he can answer his own dilemma, X’s words slip out with neither thought nor control. “Then you’re mine too.”

The warbot nods as if that’s a given. “I’m yours.”

X closes the space between him and Zero, silencing his own worries.

He’s made his choice.

* * *

 

Both the Zeroth and Seventeenth Unit Leaders have to return to the real world eventually. They’re professionals after all.

Neither robot needed to even think about what to do next when the rest of the world is still cheerfully imploding while they were placed in reserve duty.

X finally turns on the rest of his communications network and boggles that he accumulated over two hundred messages. Fortunately, none of them involved an emergency. In fact, they all but two of them came from his ‘Max’ contact in which the first ten or so are from Lane, asking ‘Max’ about ‘her’ whereabouts and if ‘she’s’ free this week. The rest are all from complete strangers who X had never given his contact information before.

Their messages are all varying versions of “Hello, are you Max, the person who talked down the almost-maverick at the Violette? We were referred through your friend, Lane. We just want to ask you a few question based on what happened, what do you say?” All with a post-script from various companies including the Abel City Tribune, Abel City Sun-Times, and the Mech Herald – the major newspapers in the city. 

X deletes the Max contact.

He checks the two leftover messages and they’re from Dr. Cain: one happily saying that Thunderbird has been moved from Hunter Base to Cain Labs. The other asks for X to come over when he has free time so the bearded man can talk to him about X’s mod project.

X is wary.

But just because Max has retired, the Azure Hunter isn’t. He still needs to check what’s going on after all.

After sufficiently cleaned up and refueled, X stands with an unimpressed warbot by the entrance of the watch floor, gaping at the never before seen levels of activity. The Azure Hunter has full subtanks, armor and buster equipped, and yet he’s not quite sure what to make of this.

The Command Center is in an absolute turbulence. It’s all hands on deck. Every communications panel is manned by an operator, each and every single one of them appearing either long-suffering or frazzled. There are groups of Hunters standing around in heated discussions, most of them with data pads in hand, furiously scrolling, swiping, and showing whatever it is they find to each other. And yet there isn’t a single red dot in any of the large screens, meaning there isn’t an attack.

Which means Maverick Hunters are _still_ conducting PR control.

“This is actually an improvement,” says Zero wryly as X shrinks within himself. “People finally took the warning seriously that we’d trace their calls if they don’t stop using the emergency line to ask for interviews.”

“Zero, sir!”

Both Leaders look to the side to see a green cadet coming forward excitedly while waving a data pad. “Did you see the – “

“I have not gone online, I did not see the news, and I have no interest,” Zero interrupts coolly with a stern look, freezing the poor cadet at the spot. “If you don’t have anything important to report, _go._ ”

The cadet sputters, apologizing with wide eyes before hurrying off.

The Blue Bomber gives Zero a look. The combatdroid flatly replies,” Thanks to you, everyone has lowered their threat assessment of me. I’m fixing it.”

“Fair enough,” X concedes, abashed for judging.

Green eyes dart to the nearest CCTV monitor, their owner grimacing when they find that people are still waiting outside in front of the entrance. At least someone has set up some yellow tape - the universal boundary structure - for them to know where they can stand legally. To X’s surprise, he can recognize a couple Unit Leaders and Hunters out there as well, appearing to make conversation.

“I thought the Commander already made a statement,” X muses aloud. “And that we’re not allowed to interact with the press?”

“He did,” reports a familiar voice.

X’s eyes snap to the control panel nearest to him and spots his unit’s Navigator. Alia twists her head to face the Azure Hunter, dipping her head in greeting before she turns back to her screen. “And those people aren’t journalists. They’re fans.”

“What,” says the Blue Bomber.

“‘Oh Zero, I’m your biggest fan I couldn’t help myself,”’ Alia echoes X’s words with a tone so dry it could make a desert whistle. “At least five separate bystanders at the Violette confirm that’s what the crazy human said after she kissed Zero. Apparently that gave people the idea it’s okay to openly declare their admiration for the Hunters now.”

The Crimson Hunter snorts. X wants to find an acid pool and melt in it.

“Speaking of admiration,” Alia continues smoothly as her fingers dance across her keyboard. “Captain Zero, you have plenty. When you go on patrol, take the recon vehicle, sir.”

“Am I being targeted?” Zero inquires, eyes sharp.

“Nope, but Crackle Kangaroo’s patrol had been delayed for fifteen minutes. Her vehicle was approached by schoolchildren and she didn’t know how to tell them that they were in her way. The recon transport will serve better.”

The Zeroth Unit Leader says nothing but his face says plenty.

“You’re due in twenty, sir,” Alia finishes.

Zero glances at X. The Crimson Hunter raises a hand and lays it on one of X’s shoulders, a familiar gesture that’s changed with everything about them. The warbot lets it linger before he stalks away to make preparations.

X watches Zero’s back for a minute before turning back to Alia, who apparently chose that time to look up from her monitor, looking at the Blue Bomber with a raised brow.

“I’ve checked my schedule and noticed that my Unit has been placed for the evening patrol,” X says politely, redirecting back to work.

“Correct. We had to make some swaps,” Alia says looking a bit chagrined. “Instead, you have something else lined up for you. I apologize for the last minute notice, sir.”

“That’s fine,” X smiles. He’s getting used to changes, big and small, at a quicker pace now. “So what’s first on the list?”

* * *

 

The first training session with freshly inducted recruits tend to be stressful. Unlike some other Unit Leaders, X would be grateful if he can create some friendly, easygoing comradery with incoming recruits, but because of the reactions he tends to receive he finds himself defaulting to polite professionalism. New recruits usually respond to Mega Man X in two extremes: absolute awe because of his reputation, or derisive condescension because he appears as an ‘outdated model.’

This time it’s very different.

When Mega Man X arrives to greet the new Hunters, he’s pleasantly surprised to see none of the usual reactions.

“Aw, it’s not Zero,” a yellow reploid (helmet modified from a hardhat, design heavy duty, used to do construction or some other labor intensive field) mutters disappointedly.

“X and Zero are friends though,” an aquamarine cadet whispers back (bulkier chest and hips, extra subtanks, probably used to do isolated, environmental work or somewhere that requires not being in the city long enough for regular refueling). “You can ask X instead.”

“Sure,” the Blue Bomber says amused,“ I don’t mind spending a couple minutes answering questions, Abut.” When the yellow reploid jumps at his name called out, X explains,” I already received all of your profiles. But before you ask me anything, I need to send a message to Base. There should be ten of you, but I see only four.”

X’s initial plan was to run a co-op in the simulators, but it seems he’ll have to scrap it. Maybe he’ll borrow a couple Ride Chasers and conduct a workshop. With reploids this few, X can keep a proper eye on every single one of them.

“Uh…” Abut speaks up shyly with a hand partially raised up. When X nods, permitting him to speak, the cadet explains, “I heard Cortex collapsed this morning. He’s in recharge – uh, sir.”

“Encepha’s in recharge too, sir!” The aquamarine cadet, Opah, pipes up.

“Newt is also in recharge, sir,” says a pink reploid (voice synthesizer at a higher octave yet clear, slim build, small hip actuators, probably used to be in administration or retail; name: Fecille).

“I think everyone who’s gone is in recharge, sir,” shrugs the fourth recruit (vivid green coloring, horn antennas, but otherwise a very simple, compact design; name: Crash). “I heard from a Lifesaver that there’s a bunch of people who got hyper-info absorption.”

_Of course._

Recalling what Dr. Cain once informed him, X sighs, pinching his nose bridge. “This has to do with the Violette, is it? It happened a couple of days ago. Has there really been so much newly generated information?”

The recruits all look at each other. The hardhat reploid looks back to X, looking sheepish. “People keep on making more memes. It’s really tempting to look through all of them.”

“Meme? On the Violette?”

“You don’t know, sir?” Abut asks tentatively. “But there’s a famous one on Captain Zero! Aren’t the both of you close?”

Well, now the Blue Bomber is curious.

“I’ve been avoiding the internet,” X admits smiling. “Do you have a data pad on you?” When the recruit nods, X waves him closer. “Show me this meme.”

The yellow reploid types something into his data pad then flips it around, showing a list of image search results, all with the same photo in varying degrees of quality with different white text streaked across the top and bottom.

X recognized with some embarrassment that it’s a close-up shot of Zero’s face after X had kissed him and was passing instructions to the taller robot. Though the back of X’s head is to the camera, the Crimson Hunter’s face is open for the world to see: comically wide blue eyes, mouth pressed in a small tight line, and handsome features all twisted in honest confusion.

Basically, Zero looks like the android personification of a lost puppy and a heavily breathing cat. It’s so adorable and out of place on the aloof warbot that X squawks in surprised laughter, his hands rushing up to physically clamp his mouth before it comes out.

“People are calling it the ‘Cannot Compute’ meme,” the yellow cadet sniggers, more relaxed now that he sees that X shares the humor.

“Oh that one!” Opah enthuses. “I love that one!”

“But some of them are so confusing. I don’t get humans sometimes,” Abut admits, his delight gets replaced with puzzlement. “Like I understand this one,” the recruit says pressing on a photo to expand it, the text now legible. It reads: WTF IS GOING ON IN MY LIFE.

 _That’s probably what Zero actually thought_ , X chuckles silently.

“But I don’t get this one.” Abut swipes to another photo. “This one says ‘When she says she’s preggers with your kid, but you a reploid.’”

 

 

X chokes on air, which should be physically impossible. He’s a robot. He doesn’t even have _lungs_.

“Wait a second.” Fecille leans over Abut, eyes narrowing at the screen. “Can you look up results for that girl? The one hugging Zero?”

“Huh? Yeah sure.” Abut complies. To X’s silent dismay, Abut types in ‘Violette girl’ and a staggeringly high number of different photos of ‘Max’ pop up in the results. He didn’t know so many people took photos of him when he was at the hotel. Most likely by security reploids.

Fecille looks at the pictures of Max, looks back up at X, then squints.

_Oh no._

“Fecille, do you know what ‘preggers’ mean?” The Azure Hunter asks calmly, expertly hiding his dread.

The pink reploid blinks. “I don’t, sir.”

“Will you look it up then? Read as much as you can and give me a summary.”

Fecille nods, confused at the random request. The young reploid’s eyes go blank, entering search mode.

A minute later, all the other recruits yelp with Fecille makes a noise similar to powering down. The pink reploid has short-circuited standing up.  

“She has potential to be sorted into the Recon Unit, but her data combing needs work,” X examines lightly. “I’ll take Fecille back to Medical for recharge. The rest of you meet me at the loading dock. We’ll be using the Ride Chasers.”

* * *

 

After taking the recruits out for a Ride Chaser workshop and completing his evening patrol, X goes to Cain Labs. He walks in the eponymous man’s office finding the roboticist behind his desk, hacking his lungs out.

“Dr. Cain!” X cries rushing to the man. “Are you okay?!”

The elderly man’s face is flushed red, heaving, with tears at the corners of his eyes.

It takes a moment for X to see that the corners of the doctor’s lips are curved upwards.

“You were laughing hard again.” X deadpans.

Dr. Cain nods shakily, raising an unstable, bony finger. X follows the finger to the man’s computer screen where it’s on a social media page.

“Th-there’s a secret ad-admirers group for the Hunters,” Dr. Cain explains gleefully. “One of my assistants found it and it’s gold, X. I can’t believe I didn’t find this earlier.”

The Azure Hunter furrows his brows and steps around the dying roboticist to get closer to the monitor. But Dr. Cain rises up, proclaiming,” Wait, wait, let me read you some of the safer ones,” the man grins, scooting his office chair closer to his screen.

Clearing his throat, Dr. Cain reads aloud,”’ Zero’s luscious locks make my heart ache.’ ”I want to get in Crackle Kangaroo’s pouch.’ ‘I’d buy Tornado Hawk’s ticket for the furry convention’ – oh they re-edited it. ‘I’d pay Tornado Hawk to come to the furry convention with complimentary subtanks.’ ’I’d pay Zero real zennies to stab me with his saber.’ Green Biker Dude, I love you with all my heart. I want to make sweet love to you on your Ride Chaser.”

X stares. “Who’s Green Biker Dude? There’s at least twenty different Hunters who are green and can drive a Ride Chaser.”

“I think that’s the joke,” Dr. Cain replies. “There’s more than a couple for you, X, but they’re pretty dirty.”

“I’m already corrupted,” X replies indifferently thinking back to his research for the pseudo-genitalia mod. “Lay it on me.”

“You asked for it.” The bearded man exhales harshly. He wheels away, letting X to scroll down the screen himself.

X wrinkles his nose. “’I want the Father of Reploids to father my children. And I’m a man.’”

Dr. Cain snorts.

“’I want the Blue Bomber to drops his bombs in me.’ ‘I want Mega Man’s little man.’ “Blue Bomber is making my balls blue.’”

Exasperated, the Azure Hunter leans back. “I know enough about the internet’s strange humor to know they’re joking at least.”

“You never know. I think some of them are actually serious,” Dr. Cain snickers. “You’ve really invited the weirder part of humanity to this. You’ve opened a Pandora’s Box and it’s not going to stop anytime soon.”

Then the man taps his lips, contemplating. “If anything, this is going to help ease in your mod to the public once you’ve completed it. People are joking now, but humor makes an excellent gateway for conversations and ideas.”

“You sent me a message that you wanted to talk to me about my mod. Is this what you mean?”

“A part of it. Remember some time ago that you were using my lab as a workspace to make your mod? I’ve tried to convince my employees that you were simply curious about the human anatomy, but people gossip, X. Now there’s talk circulating in the scientific community and in the industry about reploids having sex. And those sex companies who wanted a reploid template? They’re calling again.”

“If they’re bothering you, I can confront them on your behalf,” X offers.

Dr. Cain waves him off. “They’re not a problem for me. But I want to warn you that you’re on limited time here. Couple years ago, Cain Labs was the only reploid producing lab in the world. Now there’s more like ARF Corps and EnviReps. Sure, they’re all coming under fire now that people are looking into their backgrounds for any overlooked reploid mistreatment. We can thank you and Thunderbird for that.”

Stroking his beard agitatedly, the roboticist continues, “But they’re still going to be standing. And those same sex companies that are calling me have likely contacted the other labs too. If those labs say yes to a collaboration and they manage to create a successful sex reploid template, the pseudo-genitalia won’t be just an optional mod. It’ll be a base design.”

A whole new generation of intelligent, human-like robots born for sex.

Taking in this information, the Father of All Reploids falls coldly silent.

Through a heavy core, X says, “Technically, I am done with the mod. I’ve made the designs and I even made a successful install on another robot albeit it was for the pseudo-penis. But I think I’ve made good headway.”

Dr. Cain’s gray eyes widen. “Did you? So you’re almost done?”

X nods. “Except I don’t think I’ve tested it enough in a number of different scenarios. For example, I haven’t tested with both the male and female mod with different partners, humans and reploids. I haven’t completely tested their sturdiness and accounted for every single risk.” The blue android curls his fists, troubled. “But I don’t…I don’t want to. I’m…I don’t want to test with anyone else…”

 _This is what I wanted to avoid. What I feared. To face this conflict_ , X mourns closing his eyes. _Between personal desire and responsibility. Between Zero and the world. I’m going to have to struggle with this over and over again._

“Then don’t test it. Don’t do what you don’t want to do.”

X snaps his head back to Dr. Cain. The roboticist shrugs. “Why are you forcing yourself to carry that burden?”

“It’s my duty,” Mega Man X answers.

“Says who?” the man shoots back. “Your father? The world? You?” The scientist leans back in his chair, gray eyes bright under bushy brows. “X, you’re a good person so I understand that you worry about every tiny thing that can happen. But even if you try to prevent a thousand variables, an accident can happen. Someone is going to get hurt and it’ll be out of your control. The universe has always been like that. It’s one thing to be cautious, but trying to achieve perfection is a never-ending road.”

“I…huh,” X murmurs looking down at his hands. “I wasn’t trying to make a perfect mod. But that’s what I have been doing, haven’t I?”

“Trying to make anything perfect based on what’s organic is a setup for failure anyway,” Dr. Cain scoffs cynically. “But if you really think you’ve gotten the base design for the mod down, then good. You’re practically done. We can start giving you more control.”

“Control? What do you mean?”

“Patent the mod before anyone else can,” the man proposes. “Technically the mod is a device. You may face some challenges from third parties trying to prove that the patent shouldn’t be granted considering what it’s based on. And the fact that you’re a robot. You’re going to have to set a legal precedent and that’s going to be hoops to jump through.”

The man gives a toothy smile. “But if anyone can do it, it’s you, X.”

“Dr. Cain,” X whispers in awe. “I’m so lucky that you’re the one who found me.”

“Oh stop it. If anything, I’m the lucky one to find you. Life isn’t as interesting without someone like you to poke fun at every now and then.”

Then the roboticist waggles his eyebrows mischievously. “So, ‘anyone else,’ eh? Was Zero that good?”

At X’s face, Dr. Cain laughs hard enough to get a stroke. 

* * *

 

After battling ceratanium tooth and buster with copyright and legislation, Dr. Light’s child makes history again for being the first robot to ever hold a patent. This encourages many reploids to have the confidence to not only introduce more inventions to the world, but also to address more concerns considering their legal status and their rights. It won’t be a long time until reploids would be able to have an entirely proper branch of legislation dedicated to them, but a beginning has been made.

The world shakes even further once it learns the nature of X’s patent. Late night shows, social and political debate-based platforms, and online forums are set aflame with controversial discussions. The world barely had time to rest after what is now popularly known as ‘The Violette Kiss” incident, which also ignited questions of animaloid prejudice, comparisons in human and reploid psychologies, and second class citizenship and how much that really applies to robots. Reploid debate is all the rage now it seems. 

The Violette Hotel receives an anonymous wire of 96,000,000 zennies on behalf of Thunderbird and the Maverick Hunters’ damage to the lobby along with an apology signed by ‘Max.’ Conspiracy theories break out over the mysterious identity and disappearance of the infamous Violette Girl. The Violette Hotel becomes more popular than ever before, even going so far to being advertised as a reploid and human romance spot when interspecies dating becomes less taboo in the future.

Lane neither hears from Max again nor does he get his one-night stand from her, but he does get his five minutes of fame for being lightly connected to Max. The fascinating life experience is a story that he shares with future one-night stands.

Thunderbird does get their wings back. Despite being charged with eight months’ worth of hours of community service, they get invited to many talk shows and have received an astounding number of job offers from sympathetic employers. In the end, they choose to become a Maverick Hunter after they’ve successfully completed their service. With their sophisticated radio capabilities, they double as a Hunter and a Navigator.

The sex companies that rag on Dr. Cain have a use after all. The scientists at Cain Labs aren’t quite mentally prepared to install pseudo-genitalia to reploids and so X approaches those companies instead. At first the companies were wary until X makes an agreement that involves handing a generous portion of profits to them. Now the companies may incorporate the mod in all kinds of styles, sizes, and special features as long as they strictly follow X’s list of ethic-based conditions.

The number of reploids requesting for a pseudo-genitalia mod grows higher and higher as time goes by. Statistic polls and surveys reveal that reploids are indeed more dependent on the psychological aspect of sex. Because of the nonbinary nature of reploids, topics of gender, sex, and sexuality become more popular conversations. In fact, the Mech Herald released a fascinating series of interviews asking various reploids on what their types are. Instead of traditional and very human answers such as “tall, blonde, Asian, green eyes, European, six pack, big breasts” and etc, reploids tend to answer “mathematical, labor-orientated, multi-limb, visually colorful, abstract minded” and etc. Robots can’t easily relate to human social standards of beauty and aesthetic and therefore are even more flexible in the dating pool. It’s easier to date a reploid than a human.

Sex involving reploids comes with its own blessings, woes, and risks just like sex involving humans. That is the nature of the world. However, thanks to X’s sex tutorial manual (which updates every couple years as more incidents are reported), popular opinion is that sex with reploids tend to not only be more emotionally fulfilling, but also satisfying. A modest number of humans have started reading the manual themselves.  

The Maverick Hunters have become popular for better or worse. On one hand, the public opinion of the organization has reached approval rates higher than before. On the other, Hunter Base did receive a joke petition that had five thousand real signatures for civilians to have the right to lick Green Biker Dude’s thighs. The Zeroth Unit Leader has the largest fanclub to the Crimson Hunter’s annoyance. The sheer number of memes based on Zero has made other people less disquieted of the Red Ripper. Zero works harder to effectively cow any Hunter or civilian from casually approaching him if they’re going to spout what he perceives useless small talk. But in general though, people are generally less terrified of Zero than they used to be. At least Zero doesn’t get easily bored anymore.

Nova and Sarah write a very grateful letter to X. X hangs it on the wall in his room along with the other letters and tasteful fan mail that he receives. The Blue Bomber still has his tendency of worrying about everything ever but he is overall happier than before.

Because of X and Zero’s natural inclination of being professionals at work, it has taken months into their relationship for anyone to find out that they are in one. However, it also surprises absolutely no one when it finally comes out. There is a rumor that a betting pool was set up among the Navigators of the nature of their relationship and that Alia won the whole pot.

Outside of work, X and Zero are even more closer than ever before. Like all couples, they have their high times and low times. They even have their stupid times. Once they were seen giving each other the cold shoulder for two days straight – something that shocked Hunter Base and had everyone worrying over the emotional state of Mega Man X and the Red Ripper. That was until someone revealed that both Hunters were at a limbo of an intense argument over which musical genre was better: rock and roll or classical. The argument ended with both parties agreeing that the blues are great. The make-up sex was fantastic.

Dr. Cain gets plenty of opportunities to howl like a hyena. He fortunately survives through every one of them. In fact, the latest story that X shares with him is in his top favorites, though not because of its humor. It doesn’t have much of that, but Dr. Cain likes it all the same.

* * *

 

“Back off, I don’t care if you’re a fucking Hunter,” the man hisses. “This is between me and my wife!”

Zero stares neutrally back, unmoving. He and X were on a walk back to Hunter Base from the park feeding pigeons when they came across a screaming couple. Usually people wouldn’t step in at what seems to be awfully personal, but X noticed something off. He was compelled to intervene and Zero followed.

“Are you this man’s wife?” X inquires the woman who’s hiding behind him.

The woman looks away, upset. She stays silent.

“Go on, show them the ring, babe,” the man snarls. “Y’know, the one I got you? Because I _always_ buy everything you want?”

“Because I have to keep getting your permission to get anything anymore,” the woman mutters.

“What the hell did you say?”

“You’re an asshole, Justin,” the woman raises her head up, eyes red. “It took me a long time to figure that out. But now I’m done with you. I’m done with this bullshit and I’m sick and tired of you trying to control everything I do.”

“Oh yeah? Fucking tell me what I do to control you huh? Name me a few things.”

“Y-you,” the woman hesitates. “You’re always messaging me and asking me where I am all the time…”

The man raises his hands in the air. “I told you a thousand times already that I’m trying to watch out for you.”

“You would message me every five minutes while I’m out with my friends! And I keep _telling_ you that I’m with my friends!”

“I love you Ellie, I just want to know how you’re doing all the time,” the man says softly, urgently. “Can you blame me for that? For wanting to know how my woman’s doing?”

“She’s not your woman,” Zero interrupts blandly.

“What did I fucking say, robot? This isn’t any of your business,” the man faces the Crimson Hunter.

“Maybe, but she’s not yours.”

The warbot glances back to X – who finished looking up local contact info of various counselors and is writing them on a notepad - and the wife, who’s nervously glancing back and forth from the two robots and her husband.

“I don’t even need to elevate my observation settings to see that she’s scared of you. That means she has a high threat assessment of you, which makes sense because you’re trying to corner her. If she was your enemy, you have the right strategy. But according to my database, marriages aren’t done between enemies. It’s done between allies.”

When Zero steps forward, the man steps back, either wary or still trying to mentally translate combatdroid speak.  

“After possession is protection and preservation. If you damage the ones who belong to you, you’re unequipped to own them. You fail to preserve and therefore you shouldn’t be trusted.”

Zero whips around, his long blond hair nearly smacking the man. Sharp blue eyes look past X to scan the befuddled woman.

“You’re not as physically capable as him,” the warbot declares. “The intelligent decision is to make a tactical retreat.”

The man rises again, stomping forward. He raises a hand as if to grab Zero by the shoulder. “Are you fucking telling her to leave me, you – “

Before the hand can meet its destination, the warbot seizes the wrist, twists it, and flips the entire man off the ground with it. The man’s back slams against the ground and he groans, pained.

“Zero, really?” X sighs. At least X watched the entire thing. If this ever comes to court, the warbot not only has two witnesses but also X’s camera. They can use the self-defense card with evidence. X hopes and doubts that this situation wouldn’t escalate to that degree.

“I used as much strength as my threat assessment saw him,” the red android responds. “It was less than three percent. He’ll live.”

“You fucking, ughhhhhh…”

“He can even talk. Should have used four percent.”

The warbot gently grabs X’s hand. He turns to the woman who’s staring at the notes X written for her. X can see that she has plenty to think about, hopefully of personal decisions that would improve her life.

“He’s down now. You should run away while circumstances are favorable,” Zero states to her.

Then he walks away with X in hand, the Mega Man's love growing as his Infinite Potential Systems wills it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! Thank you guys so much for all the kudos and comments, the support and lovely feedback!  
> The next ‘chapter’ isn’t a real chapter as much as it’s my personal notes and deleted scenes I removed since I don’t want past!Me’s efforts to be in vain. Kinda like a archive of side notes of this story.  
> Again, thank you so much for joining me!


	7. Deleted Scenes and Notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this 'chapter' isn't a real chapter. It's not necessary to read this, but I guess if you read everything you'd understand more of where the characters and the story setting even better? So I guess if you had any questions concerning a few things, this page might clear them all up.

**Connectors and Fasteners’ (CAF) background and setting in the Megaman X timeline:**

 

This is a flat out canon divergent AU. An AU of the X games’ world where everything is much nicer, softer, and the characters are allowed to be a little ridiculous. In my opinion, there is no way that this story can comfortably fit within, between, or after any of the games in the X series because the X series overarching storyline is…really dark. 

It’s why that I haven’t made a clear mention on who the Maverick Hunters’ Commander is within this story. By mentioning who the Commander is, I’m deliberately placing this story within a specific game in the X timeline. I mentioned Alia because it’s implied that before X5 she’s been with the Hunters for a bit (and I just want to involve an actual game character besides X, Zero, and Cain damn it), but she came in after the first game when Sigma rebels. This is significant because during the rebellion, we can assume that many operators were killed at the time. And if any operator survived, it’s because they chose to side with Sigma, which then they’d be declared Maverick and later get shot by X or Zero anyway. Yeah, fun times.

So CAF takes place in some lighter split timeline after the first game where not only Zero didn’t get caught by Vile and self-destructed (because that’s dumb. I refuse to believe that Dr. Wily’s ultimate creation would ever die like that outside of in-game drama) but also the events from X2 and onwards didn’t happen. That would imply Sigma keeps returning from the dead and that has its own share of complications I didn't want to deal. 

My Zero and X would never be able to come together if X4 ever happened (or if they do, it will take literal hell, like Megaman Zero series hell, to write the development that can make that happen).

A Zero after Iris would never let anyone have a Zero Threat Assessment ever again, because by then he would learn that you don't need to wield a weapon to hurt him.  

* * *

**Corklist Comment Section to X's post:**

 

 **Slap_Happy ·** Sept 10, 2129, 3:43AM _:_ Are you a boy or a girl

 **Highxxrayve ·** Sept 10, 2129, 5:27AM _:_ You look like a twink.

 **| GoldenArrow ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 8:07 AM _:_ CAN’T BE A TWINK IF SHE GOT PUSSY

 **| Beryinera ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 8:20AM _:_ what do you cvall a girl twink

 **| pPhonnaP ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 8:24AM _:_ a minor you dumbass

 **| KawaiiKowaiiBonBon ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 8:32AM _:_ no it;’sa loli

 **| zilchwhale ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 8:55AM _:_ is she really flat or is she a loli, which one is it I can’t tell

 **Stabboywashere2012 ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 9:07AM _:_ WATCH OUT IT’S A TRAP. THE COPPERS ARE ON OUR ASSES

 **Legendbutter ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 9:18AM _:_ gtfo here you 12 yr old, this part of the website is 18+, be a good kid and go play at a park

 **| gcskaterkid ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 9:46AM _:_ You know what they say: age is just a number.

 **| Legendbutter ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 10:49AM _:_ you know what they say: a jail is just a room creep

 **gh0ulg0lly ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 9:42AM _:_ guys we finally got ourselves a loli

 **| KawaiiKowaiiBonBon ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 10:26AM _:_ I I I LOVE LITTLE GIRLS THEY MAKE ME FEEL SO GOOD

 **Prof_Dark2100 ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 10:57AM _:_ fucking idiot it’s not a loli if it’s not under 13

 **| Iceveariously ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 11:00AM _:_ Fools, the best loli is the legal loli. It is proof that the sweet elixir of immortality exists. You heathens don’t recognize that we are in a presence of a goddess, descending from her ivory tower to grant us impure souls a chance of salvation.

 **| bungarooooo ·** Sept 10, 2129 – 11:11AM _:_ i banged your mom last night

 

X stares, absolutely bewildered.

He then looks up what a ‘loli’ and ‘twink’ is. He doesn’t know whether to settle between being disgusted or amused. He decides to choose being amused, understanding and accepting that the internet is just what it is.

It still doesn’t stop him from flying to his account settings, confirming to delete it, and exiting out the homepage in a minute.

>Proceed to X asking Dr. Cain where he can find casual sex. 

Note:

Above scene was deleted because I was thinking how much X would be affected by the sheer randomness of the internet (and that he might just give up on human/reploid harmony from online bullshit lol). 

* * *

**X Trying to Look More Human**

 

Dr. Cain grimaces. “X, what are you doing this time?”

Stripped off his memorable blue armor, the android is making himself comfortable on one of the operating tables in the lab with two small jars, one full of adhesive and the other acetone, a flat headed palette knife, one small brush, and a pile of faux flesh lying next to him.

“Hello Dr. Cain,” X greets as he picks up the palette knife with a dab of adhesive and spread it leisurely on his throat. “I’m trying to appear more human.”

“How much more human can you look? You’re an android for crying out loud.”

“Except even with my armor off my joints and neck reveals I’m made out of metal. I need to cover them up.”

“And why, pray tell, do you need to cover them up?”

>Proceed with X explaining his plan of accounting for every tiny possibility of Lane figuring out that the human is attempting to bang a not-human. 

Note:

At first I wrote this “trying to pass more as a human” scene for X because I initially visualized him as an android with metal joints revealing his true nature underneath his armor. Also I wanted to further establish X's tendency to worry over everything (and still interrupt his one-night stand, driving the point home that X cannot consider EVERY possible variable)

But then I actually began thinking about how and why Dr. Light craft X the way he did and removed the scene.

Rock, aka Classic Megaman, was built to look like a human boy so Dr. Light can appeal robots further to people. It was later when Rock answered the hero’s call that Dr. Light converted him into the blue combat robot we know now.

But compare to Rock, X is not only already in combat armor in his capsule, but he’s also deliberately aged up. It’s no coincidence that Dr. Light has crafted X to appear older with already installed weaponry for the X series, the darkest series next to Megaman Zero.

Which drives me to conclude that Dr. Light was not only aware that X could pose as a danger to the world, but also expected the world of the 22nd century can pose a danger to X. Therefore, it makes sense to me that underneath X’s armor is either an extremely human-like body, or a body that has the capacity to appear more human thanks to the Weapon Copy System. Because if X is ever in danger because of his nature as a free thinking robot, passing off as human and blending into human society is the best way to survive. My conclusion is that X was designed to look androgynous (further gender flexibility and giving X more option to choose his own 'gender,' because X was created to be whatever he wants to be) and a teenager (an age people are taken more seriously than a child, but won't perceive as a threat like adults can be). 

* * *

**X after Recharging from Dr. Cain Labs; no talk with Cain, he goes straight to Maverick Hunter Base**

 

The first sign that something is wrong is when X wakes up from recharge with an overwhelming number of messages accumulated in his communications network. X turns off his transmitter, deciding that he can plow through over two hundred messages once he gets to work first.

The second sign is that on X’s way back to Hunter Base, the number of looks he receives from other pedestrians have noticeably increased.

But now that he’s back in his familiar blue armor, X finds the attention not unusual and so he mentally retreats into his little world as every comm call to Zero falls through. Normally the blonde android would already be up and running at this time. If the Zeroth Unit Leader was called in for a hunt, he would just respond so and X would leave it at that.

Which implies either Zero had received processor-straining levels of input from last night that he’s _still_ in recharge, or he’s ignoring X. X doesn’t know which one makes him feel worse.

The third sign is more obvious when X arrives closer to Hunter Base and sees news reporters barred by Hunter guards around the front entrance, reminding X of pigeons flocking around a well marked statue. Except X is also used to journalists clamoring for further details in any Maverick-related events and the Violette did happen just last night. If X had taken a closer look, he would have noticed that the crowd did not just included journalists. However, he didn’t spare a second glance, simply taking the long route around the block to enter Hunter Base.

Only when he finally arrives to the Command Center that it occurs to him that something major did indeed happen.

The Command Center is in turbulence.

“No, we’re not accepting any interviews at the time,” says the Navigator nearest to X. “Receiving another call, please hold. Hello? Ugh, yes it’s me again and no, the answer has not changed from the last time you called me. Please stop using the Maverick Hunter emergency line like this or I’ll call in the police!”

“What’s going on?” X asks warily to the young Navigator.

The operator notices the blue android and sits up in attention. He cries, “X, sir! It’s been bolts ever since last night! There’s been nonstop calls from - ”

The operator’s panel flashes, interrupting the reploid. He releases a long suffering groan and picks it up. “Hello, this is Maverick Hun – wait, you again?! That’s it, I’m tracing your line right now! I told you, Unit Leader Zero will not be available for today, save for a Maverick attack!”

The caller must have hung up because Navigator yells vindictively, “Yeah you better be scared!”

X’s eyes widen. “People are calling for Zero? Why?”

“It’s because of what happened at the Violette last night, sir!” a random Hunter nearby explains. “Every major news network wants to interview him!”

“Why? It was another hostage situation,” X says, bewildered.

”It’s because of that crazy human!” Another hunter pipes up.

“Not like anyone can talk to him,” another exclaims. “He’s ordered to stay in base all day.”

Oh no. Nothing can royally rub acid on Zero any more than being put into forced reserve.

“Someone give me a data pad right now,” X orders, masking the dread filling his tank. “Anything on the Violette. Show me.”

Three of the closest cadet Hunters flip their pads around to the Seventeenth Unit Leader. Every single one of them is the front page of Abel City’s various newspapers: Abel City Tribune, Abel City Sun-Times, and the Mech Herald all with different headlines.

**VIOLETTE HOUSE HOSTAGE ORDEAL ENDS PEACEFULLY**

With a close-up photo of a downcast Thunderbird in handcuffs leaving the hotel with Hunters by their side.

**BRAVE GIRL TALKS DOWN HOSTILE MAVERICK THEN VANISHES**

With a slightly grainy picture of X trying to hide behind his hand when he was escaping with Thunderbird standing in the corner.

**LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING SAVES THE DAY**

With a HD photo of X kissing Zero in slow motion.

The Hunter holding that particular data pad shakes her head. “I knew humans could be crazy, but not _that_ crazy. Who in the right mind would ever kiss Leader Zero? He terrifies me.”

Another Hunter pipes up, rolling his eyes. “He terrifies _everyone,_ Lumo. But have you seen his face last night? No one’s going to take the Zeroth seriously after that. That photo is still circulating all over the web.”

>Proceed for cadet to show X the latest memes including the "Cannot Compute" Zero meme.

Before X ask for any further elaboration he gets a ping. A message from a ‘See First’ contact.

The Blue Bomber raises his hand up in apology, his other hand on the side of his helm in the universal gesture of someone receiving a call. “I need to take this, excuse me.” The younger Hunters nod in understanding and X turns away. Ventilations still a little overworked, he tries to find a quieter spot at the watch floor – which is nowhere apparently so he strides out to a random hallway and opens up the note.

_You owe me an explanation._

It’s from Zero.

The blue android instantly flips onto their private channel to greet the warbot. The other side is in complete radio silence.

_Can’t go into comm channels without at least ten people trying to talk to me at the same time. Message only._

X winces, reminded that this is all essentially his fault. The warbot has been unwillingly cannonballed into the media spotlight and now everyone is fussing over him. The sudden barrage of unwanted attention is undoubtedly causing plenty of problems for the other android.

Okay, back-to-back messaging then.

 _I do owe you one. Let’s meet up,_ replies X.

_I’ll meet you at your room tonight._

_Tonight? I’m due for a patrol but that should end by noon. I’m free afterwards._

_Not today._

X frowns until he receives an attachment. It’s the Unit Leaders’ shared schedule and under X’s name there’s an addition that wasn’t there the last time he saw it. After his usual patrol he has to lead an outdoor team building exercise for the recently new Hunter recruits in the afternoon – a task previously delegated to the Zeroth Unit Leader.

But Zero isn’t allowed to leave base today so it’s been transferred to X. Of course.  

 _Tonight it is then,_ X agrees. Hesitantly, he sends another message. _I’m sorry for kissing you. I swear I had a good reason to do it._

This time X doesn’t receive a response.

>Proceed to X with the new recruits but he's distracted, worried about Zero, and not fun. 

Note:

Deleted the scene above because despite how the story becoming a bit more complicated (because I lack self-control from world-building tendencies), I did want to keep the drama low and the story simple. Which means, the world had to stop bothering X for a bit until X can center on himself more. And I got to have fun with people reacting to memes at the final chapter anyway, which also helped the story end at a light-ended note. 

Also the talk with Dr. Cain wouldn't happen, and with my interpretation of CAF!Dr. Cain, that couldn't work. This Dr. Cain is someone who's more aware of what's happening around him after Sigma, aka his first son, died. Since the CAF!world is so much nicer than canon, CAF!Dr. Cain's personality followed suit and he became this funny old man counselor. 

Also I wanted someone to keep addressing the story's shenanigans. By using Dr. Cain to do that job, the crack in CAF doesn't become too cracky since someone keeps pointing out how ridiculous it is. 

* * *

**X's Pre-Maverick Hunter Background**

 

Even the famous Mega Man X had humble beginnings.

X is a pacifist at heart despite being armed with the Mega Buster Mark 17. After Dr. Cain woke the android up from his century long hibernation, X joined the roboticist’s lab and became an assistant. It’s only when the rise of maverickism became prominent that X became a Hunter to personally observe the rogue mechaniloids and reploids in person, hoping he’ll be able to pinpoint the cause of maverickism better. The remains Maverick Hunter Headquarters sent back to Cain Labs tend to be too torn apart to glean any valuable information.

>Proceed how X was a newbie Hunter and how he met Zero and became the warbot's student. Then follow up with rumors of how the Red Ripper became a Maverick Hunter. 

Note:

Scene deleted because I did not want to go in-depth with X's backstory. I wanted to keep the present tense flow and by going into X's past in CAF, I'd have to use past tense, which takes away the "shit is happening RIGHT NOW" atmosphere CAF established. 

Besides, plenty of people have written the "X becomes a Hunter" origin story and I didn't want CAF to do that too. Have you seen my tags? They're ridiculous! They could have (and still can) more if I went into Origin stories! I cheated and used rumors instead. 

* * *

**Green Biker Dude in Final Chapter**

 

>X takes the new recruits out on the Ride Chasers

>A group of humans whoop and cheer

>Green recruit pops a wheelie and X goes "THAT'S DANGEROUS, GET DOWN"

>Stupid cadet crashes and becomes a meme

 

Note:

Scene deleted because if GBD became a meme, he would overshadow Zero's meme. I couldn't let that happen.

So I resorted to Green Biker Dude to be some in-universe joke of "the most sexiest Maverick Hunter ever" even though no one knows who GBD is.

It doesn't stop any Maverick Hunter that fulfills the description of being "green and being able to drive a Ride Chaser" from wondering who the true GBD is. Will the real GBD please stand up?

* * *

**Reploid Sex and Gender**

 

It's my headcanon that all reploids are fundamentally genderless/sexless/gender-fluid/nonbinary (insert anymore nonbinary terms here). 

For one, it's not natural for robots to have sex. Gender is a very human thing that I can see being placed upon robots/reploids because humans put pronouns on cars, ships, and countries. It's not a stretch for human society to force upon gender (along with the expectations that go with it) on extremely human-like robots. 

But that doesn't mean reploids can relate to them. They might just take it and run with it because they're conditioned to it, but that doesn't mean it fully applies to them. 

In fact, I think reploids may look at human gender/sex/binary gender pronouns as more of an aesthetic and/or career category. Like how you can just change genders in a RPG even though it makes no substantial impact on the plot. 

As for sexuality, I see all reploids as asexual until the pseudo-genitalia mod, in which there's more graysexual/demisexual reploids. 

* * *

**Alternate X/Zero Sex Route (more awkward and embarrassing)**

>Zero, absolutely clueless about sex, pushes up his fingers inside X without hesitation

"OW!" X yelps, startling Zero's fingers to freeze in place inside the blue android.

"Don't just ram your fingers up in there!" X explains to the warbot, who definitely appears way less confident than before. " _Please_ be careful when you're inside my construction!"

"Sorry," the red combatdroid mumbles, wide eye and absolutely lost. "X, I told you I don't know this field. You're going to have to walk me through this."

>Proceed to X and Zero stumbling through until Zero actually got up, took his armor, and just walk out, right in the middle of X trying to ride him. 

Note:

Scene deleted because I felt so sorry for X and Zero. Not gonna lie, a part of me was really tempted to make the sex scene hilariously sad because I wanted to put as much humor as I can even if it ends up literally sexually frustrating for X, and vaguely traumatizing for Zero. 

Also, I never wrote smut before. Their sex scene is the first smut I have ever written in my life thus far, and I thought "Hey, wouldn't it be an interesting challenge to try writing smut for once?" And then I went for it. I'm honestly really glad that some people enjoyed the smut scene - I thought I was inserting to much psychology in there, but if it works, it works. 

* * *

**Alternate X/Zero Sex Route (more dramatic)**

 

>Zero just finishes fingering X, and X is already emotionally overwhelmed. X realizes something.

Green eyes widen in realization. “ _You_ feel so much better.”

Curious, X leans upward, brushing his lips against the warbot’s cheek, marveling at how his own lips tingle at such a chaste contact. It affirms his theory.

No, it can’t possibly be so impersonal as a theory, X thinks wistfully. Accurately it’s more of a truth and X is finally confronting it, this horrible, beautiful, heart breaking thing, that he doesn’t dare to label. Because he’s aware that Zero is only here to help, nothing more.

But even if doesn’t apply to Zero, X wants his best friend to be on to the same wavelength as him, give the warbot a glimpse to this terrible thing the blue android is feeling. Maybe for once, X can allow himself to indulge his selfishness.

_I might never have him this way again._

>Proceed with X being more forward and open.

>X rides Zero, realized Zero is quiet, and looks down

But his face…

Oh his face.

>In-depth descript of Zero being tense

The sight of Zero struggling pierces through X’s mental haze, sobering the blue android.

What was X thinking, carelessly doing whatever he wants? Unlike the blue android, Zero has zilch prior experience.

He’s overwhelming Zero.

 _Don’t get carried away,_ X chastises, stilling for a moment to let him and Zero adjust. _He’s putting up with you_ for _you. Get your data and stop taking advantage of him._

“Zero, how do you feel?” X asks, forcing his voice to come out clear. 

The red combatdroid exvents, gritting out,” I don’t know. I never felt anything like this before.”

X nods, understanding that the other is probably going through immense sensory input – it’s honestly a surprise that Zero hasn’t gone into forced recharge or an overload yet.

“But you’re not in pain?”

“No, it’s just. Tight.” Zero’s hands hover up, stopping just short from X’s waist as if he doesn’t know what to do with them. “Feels like a trap.”

>Proceed to X continuing but very wary and uncomfortable for Zero's well-being. Wait, how would this X be able to reassure the warbot that it's okay for Zero to let go if he's constantly worrying? Shit, rewrite rewrite rewrite. 

Note:

Scene deleted because it was getting too dramatic for my taste. I wanted the sex scene to have a certain feel from both participants: X to be scientifically curious, in-denial with how he feels towards his best friend, but ultimately can't maintain a cool head because Zero (and Zero to be...carnal. There's a reason for that).

First two chapters of CAF reveals that X is already having "dirty thoughts" regarding to Zero, but X keeps avoiding to get to the heart of the matter. Robots are more dependent on the psychological aspect of sex in CAF, which implies that for any robot dirty thoughts actually have an underlying reason outside of lust (which is extremely rare for robots to experience). For X to not make that connection within himself early, I thought "ah, X in denial. Makes sense." 

X can be a fantastic liar if he wants to be. He's done it to himself after all if another part of him believes it's necessary. 

As for Zero's POV for the sex...oh boy.

* * *

**Zero’s Characterization**

 

Zero was the hardest for me to write right up until the last two chapters where he fits within my actual mental image of Zero the most. I truly believe in nature vs nurture, and Zero within the CAF world is a Zero who still has amnesia of his true origins (aka a Wilybot) and hasn’t experienced the shit that went down in the fourth X game. This is critical because it allows Zero to be how he is here.

I still want to keep some undertones of his Wilybot programming in there, which is why I made sure to emphasize that he is a combat robot and he sees life from that perspective. The games not just establish that Wily had specialized in making combat robots, but even the Megamix Manga's character profiles nearly (if not all) labeled every single Wilybot as a combat robot. Fucking Wily man. 

It made sense to me that Zero is fundamentally a warbot, but with the ability to grow and expand his horizons like an android. After all, if Wily wanted to make a powerful, self-sustainable robot after the mad scientist died, he has to make an android. A robot/Robot Master isn't as independent as an android.

So Zero being a 'killer warbot' as one commentator accurately describe. Until the last chapters, I’ve tried to hint (don’t know if I was successful) of how much of a “not-hero” he is. He’s just someone who happened to find his place (aka Maverick Hunter) where he can do things he likes (aka destroying/conquering) without painting himself as an antagonist to the world. Because it’s illogical to kill for a petty reason like ‘I’m bored’ and risk being hunted down by everyone else. He’s a warbot, but not a dumbbot.

But here's the thing with Zero: he has amnesia and he has X as a good influence. Therefore his actual warbot mannerisms/vocabulary/mindset don’t really rear their head until he’s emotionally put in the spot, which occurs in the final chapters especially during the sex scene. That's why Zero's POV is quite visceral, but thanks to that I was able to get the emotional and psychological impact I wanted from the sex. If the entire sex scene was from X's POV, it wouldn't have as much impact (because he keeps having thought derails), and Zero's thought-process of "You belong to me" wouldn't go as smoothly in the last chapter. 

I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a story that involves a NotAmnesiac!Zero who definitely has a more fleshed out personality and clashing him against Pre-Maverick Hunter!X. But maybe when I’m full of Megaman feels.

I even toyed with the idea of Omega!Zero going back in time to right before the X4 games, which isn't even a monster - it's a goddamn behemoth, with Colonel, Iris, the rebirthing the Four Guardians, and a mentally unstable X and (two) Zero(s). Cyber-elves, the Virus, and, ugh, just thinking of that 20+ story (yeah it would be long, ew) is a beast. The idea of writing a "Zero fully aware of his own origins and running with it" concept seems fun but... 

Right now, I’ve pretty much released my Megaman X feels thanks to this story. And I don't want to write anything when I don't have the feels, therefore I don’t feel the drive right now.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've reached down here, whoa! I'm thankful that someone took the time to not only read this entire story, but also read my brain vomits. Wouldn't have even finished this story in a little over a month's time if it weren't for the kudos and comments!  
> And if you read up to here and still have questions of anything because I screwed up at writing somewhere, I don't mind answering. I know that I didn't flesh out this story as much as I could have (because I wanted to keep this story as uncomplicated crack, sob).  
> Again, thank you for reading Connectors and Fasteners!


End file.
